Køhler's Koffee
by wanderlust-nation
Summary: UNFINISHED Human/Coffee Au. Mathias and his friends run a coffee shop in the small town of Brookdon. Eventually, their hometown begins to change, as well as everything else around them. It's best to welcome new things with open arms, right? (DenNor, SuFin, and HongIce, contains RusCan and maybe FrUk)
1. Your Local Coffee Shop

**Chapter 1: Your Local Coffee Shop**

* * *

September, 2014

One late-September morning, a long-anticipated autumn cool-front blew into Brookdon. Mathias Køhler arrived to work while the sun was still down and unlocked the front door to his beloved coffee shop. The gratifying warmness and pleasing smell of sweets and coffee beans of Køhler's Koffee gave him a lovely greeting. Taking a deep breath, he entered and went to the back, where he started his almost-every work routine of making his coffee.

The restful music coming from his laptop occupied the room with a peaceful atmosphere. Mathias hummed along as he worked. He never tired of the early-day job; mornings were very repetitive, but he didn't mind.

Time rolled by and before he knew it, the store was just about ready to open for the day. The coffee was ready and his workers–and life-long friends, excluding Nathan–should be arriving soon. He exited the back room and moved to the front of the shop. The September sun was still down but the occupants of Brookdon were soon to be up.

_Knock, knock_. Francis Bonnefoy stood at the door, peering through the glass. The older gentleman said something and pressed his face against the window as Mathias glanced at him. "Come in!" Mathias called to him. He slightly tilted his head to the side in confusion. _Oh right_, he remembered, _the walls are 98.2% soundproof._

"Good morning, Mathias," Francis greeted him brightly after the Dane let him in. Arthur Kirkland followed after him with a couple of cardboard boxes nestled in his arms. "You're looking very lively today, mon cher."

"Same to you," Mathias replied. He had forgotten Francis was delivering some samples that day. Since Francis had occupied the building next door only months ago, that was the first year he'd be displaying his autumn-exclusive products. Mathias was more than excited to see what he had brought.

Arthur gently set down the boxes. "Good day, Mr. Køhler." Arthur yawned, looking at Mathias with a sleepy squint.

"Morning, Arthur." Mathias replied. "Go ahead and take a seat." Arthur nodded and sat down.

Francis untapped one of the boxes and pulled out a container. "I brought some traditional pumpkin muffins, Halloween and fall themed cookies…" he started pulling the containers out one-by-one. Mathias observed the foods in awe; and his face brightened even more when Francis revealed an even better-looking dish.

"Lastly, pumpkin pie." The pie was carefully crafted and the perfect golden-brown color. Mathias felt himself almost drool from the sight of it. "Amazing, no? Smell it," Francis removed the cover and held it up to him. The overwhelming harmony of spices and pumpkin instantly hit Mathias and nearly casted his soul away in food heaven.

"Now," Francis eased the lid back on, Mathias snapped out of the daze. "This will more than likely become my best seller when I start selling them next week. It's very important that this is put where your customers can easily see it and want it. Now that school has started, business hasn't been the greatest. I need to make up for this. You don't want my business to die, right?" Mathias quickly nodded. "Good, good. Do I have your word?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Bonnefoy," Mathias answered, just as the bell above the entrance rang as the door flew open.

"Good morning!" Tino Väinämöinen sang upon his theatrical arrival. Arthur, who had been dozing off, stood up so quickly, the chair he was placed in nearly fell backwards.

"Morning Tino," Mathias welcomed him. Tino walked over to the table and observed the several packages of Francis's food that was scattered over the surface.

"We're starting the seasonal food now?" He asked.

"Yes, the first day of fall was three days ago," Mathias replied.

"Indeed, it was. I would stay and chat but Arthur and I should be getting back to work," Francis reached over and touched Arthur's shoulder. "If he's even awake enough."

"I am, I am," Arthur pushed his hand away. After the two had left, Mathias began setting up the display of snacks. Tino helped, but spent more time looking at the food rather than working. His eyes glazed over to the pie he hadn't seen before. It was gorgeous, and Tino instantly fell in love with it. He extended his arm over to the package and brought it closer to him. Before he could even open the lid, Mathias grasped his arm.

"Rule number nine, Tino," Mathias told him sharply. Tino looked up at the fancy-framed list of rules. Mathias had required them to memorize the 'oh so important list' when they had written and rewritten it, but he had to make sure of one thing.

Rule number 9 was, as he thought, the one prohibiting moonwalking, with exception of knowing how to. Tino, jerking his arm away from Mathias and lifting the pie above his head, moonwalked adeptly to the other side of Mathias and set the pie down again. "Yes sir?"

Mathias took a quick glance at the rule sheet and back at Tino, humiliated. "Rule number _seven_, Tino. Food products less than 2 days old are off limits until after hours."

Tino scoffed and let go of the pie. "Rule number ten, sir," he smiled brightly at him before taking his place at the counter, his eyes still on the pie. "Touching Tino without good intentions is completely prohibited."

"My intentions are very well good," Mathias opened the pie container. "You can get a pie like this from Francis next week."

"Next week?!" Tino gasped.

"Next week," Mathias took out the pie and set it on the counter. "Now hand me a knife so I can cut this thing."

"Thin slices," Tino suggested. "Maybe…"

"Of course," Mathias told him. "Hopefully there will be left overs because I'll be dying until a try this thing." The two nodded in agreement.

* * *

Berwald, Lukas and Lukas's younger brother, Emil, arrived together minutes later. Emil didn't stop as he ran to the supply closet. Tino watched as Berwald and Lukas turned their heads towards the display shelves while they walked by. Both their eyes wondered and stopped when the pie came into view. Tino could tell from sense of lust that suddenly came into Lukas' eyes. Berwald was much harder to understand but he doesn't stare in the same spot for that long. Behind that stern look, Tino knew he was dying to have the dish all to himself.

Tino felt himself start to get agitated at the sight of them staring. He had to get their attention away from it. He put on the cutest smile possible and bent over the counter. "Good morning, friends." He greeted cheerfully.

"Good morning, Tino." They both replied at once. Berwald lightened up but Lukas's eye twitched; he saw Tino was up to something.

The shop was unusually quiet; as Lukas and Tino stood at the counter, they could hear Mathias's music. There was a very uncomfortable tension surrounding the two.

Matthew Braginsky was the first customer to arrive, as usual. In one hand, he had the ends of the leashes that were connected to two very large dogs. In the other, he had the hand of his eldest daughter, Vera. She promptly let go of her dad's hand and ran up to the counter with her long ponytail and purple backpack bouncing behind her.

"Good morning!" She told the two, her brown eyes shined. "We're here for coffee!"

"Are you?" Lukas asked. The five-year-old said that every morning, it was better to play along. He knocked on the window to the back where Mathias was. "The usual for the Braginskys." He turned around. "Anything else?"

"No thank you," Matthew managed to pull the dogs over to the counter. "I'll take a couple glazed donuts; Claude wants a banana muffin and three cinnamon buns for Ivan, please."

"And I want a chocolate donut!" Vera added.

"Say please, Vera," Matthew told her.

"Please, mister Lukas!"

Matthew glanced down at the snacks display. "Wait, there's new things?" He quickly pushed his great white Samoyed out of the way to see.

"Is that one of Francis's pumpkin pies?" he asked. Tino and Lukas both held in a gasp.

"Have you tried it?" Tino asked.

"Of course, he's made them since we were in high school!"

"How does it taste?"

"Amazing," Matthew let out a sigh of merriment. "I think I'll take a slice."

"Alright," Lukas forced a smile.

"No wait, the slices are awfully thin…" He noted. "I'll take two." Lukas internally screamed and typed in the orders to the computer. _It was just two slices_, he told himself, _there's plenty more left_. "Your total is 11.67."

Matthew paid before grabbing the bag and a mug of coffee. "Vera, carry the food and your dad's coffee, okay?"

"Can I hold yours instead, papa? Daddy's coffee is too strong." She complained.

"Okay, just don't drink all of it. You'll drive your teacher crazy again." Matthew took the other mug and handed it to her. "Thank you guys again, I'll bring the mugs back in a little while."

"No problem, Matthew," Tino told him.

"See you later," Lukas said as the four left. _It's going to be a long day,_ he thought to himself.

* * *

The day lasted longer than he had initially thought. Several customers had come, many had bought themselves a slice, and left, driving the two workers at the counter mad.

The tension between Tino and Lukas had spread among the others, too. Berwald would glance at the pie, then Lukas and Tino every time he would pass during his cleaning routine. Emil caught on and even tried getting Tino to save him a slice. He refused and told him to stop being greedy. When Nathan arrived, he appeared to be oblivious to everything going on and minded his own business. Tino, Lukas, Emil and Berwald were on to him anyway.

"Come on, come on," Lukas muttered. It was almost closing time and there were only two pieces left. Tino was closest to the snacks and almost breathing on the last of the pie, Emil and Berwald sat at a nearby table and waited in muteness.

One last customer came in, and after ordering a latte, took one of the last two slices and left. Everyone in the room, except Nathan, held their breath as they watched the clock count down the seconds to closing time.

Just seconds before the deadline, Mathias stumbled out of the back room. He crept sluggishly to the display shelf, turning to give everyone in the room a stern look as they stared blankly at him. As the hourly music from the wall clock played, in a very low voice, Mathias whispered the words. "It's mine."

After that, it was every man to himself. Tino instantly jumped over the counter and attacked Mathias; obviously their set alliance was over. Before Lukas can make it past the two, Emil and Berwald grabbed both his arms and tried bringing him to the ground. Lukas bit Berwald on the shoulder and pinched his brother's cheeks. Nathan shoved past everyone but was pulled by his scarf and jerked away from the prize by Mathias and Berwald.

"Okay, this is ridiculous!" shouted Mathias, standing in the way of the shelf. Everyone stopped fighting at once. "We're acting like a bunch of barbarians. We could have simply negotiated, but no, we went straight to violence!"

"You started it," Tino pointed out.

"I don't think that's right,"

"You want another bruise on your arm?"

"N-No," Mathias rubbed his arm. "I probably should have been civil at first but I think we all can agree that Francis's pie was too much for all of us. We're a family, and we could have easily split that thing among all of us, even though…"

"Uh, Mathias," Emil spoke up.

"Not now, Emil, I know the slice is _very_ small…"

"Mathias," Lukas began.

"Let me finish! We can make this work…"

"No we can't," Berwald answered.

"Wha–"

"Turn around," Nathan suggested. Mathias stopped speaking and slowly turned to see something he didn't quite expect. A puffin, with a fancy little red bowtie, sat perched in an empty pie tin with crumbs lining its beak.

"I'm so sorry!" Emil whined. "I thought he would have stayed in the closet.

"Emil!" Lukas yelled at his brother. "What did I tell you about bringing Mr. Puffin here?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't–" Emil was broken off by the loudest, most agonizing scream that had ever come from Mathias Køhler.

* * *

Meanwhile, next door stood a newer building; one occupied by a family-run bookstore with an upstairs home. Ivan Braginsky lay in bed after working all day, reading a new book. His husband, Matthew, opened the bedroom door; his two dogs dove into the room and jumped up onto him. "Plushenko! Isabelle!" He set down his book and rubbed each on the back and head. Matthew sat down onto the side of the bed.

"Did you hear that sound?" He asked. Ivan looked at him, confused.

"No, what sound?" Ivan looked up from the dogs.

"A scream," Matthew replied. "It sounded like it was coming from Mathias's place."

Ivan laughed. "Don't be ridiculous, there's no way. Their walls are 98.2% soundproof."

* * *

**Author's Note: Happy Leif Erikson day!**


	2. Starbucks

**Chapter 2: Starbucks**

* * *

October 2nd, 2014

Closing time for Køhler's Koffee was nearing after a long day with a lot of rush. The Bondevik siblings were occupying their last minutes of work with building a castle of gift cards, Nathan was counting the day's income, again, and Tino had sold the last latte of the day. Upon the exit of the last customer and the store's clock ringing six times, Mathias danced to the door and changed the sign to 'closed.'

"Today was the busiest day of the year," Emil complained.

"You say that every day," Lukas responded and snatched the card out of his brother's hand before adding it to the castle.

"But hey, we're closed tomorrow," Tino added. Emil let out a sigh of relief. "How much did we get today, Nathan?" Tino walked over to the man at the cash register and glanced over his shoulder.

"Yes," Nathan replied in his deep, monotone voice without looking up from the cash in his hands. Tino continued to wait for an actual answer until Berwald appeared from the kitchen. He made his way over to Tino and sat in the stool next to him, yawning.

"Ber, don't tell me you're tired already," Tino gave him a sunny smile and put his hands on both of Berwald's shoulders.

"I cleaned each table about eight times each," Berwald tilted his head backwards to look up at Tino. "Carry me home,"

"I don't know, I kinda have to drive, too," Tino laughed.

"You can try,"

"Hey, hey, guys!" Mathias's voice was so loud, it made Nathan look up from the wad of currency he was holding and nearly sent Lukas and Emil's card castle to the ground.

The Dutch cashier gently put the money away and cracked his knuckles. "This better be good, Køhler,"

"Just come over here and look," the Dane pressed his face to the front window. "The new building is almost finished!" The five others walked over to take a look. Sure enough, the new building project that had started back in late August was almost done and being painted. There was a 'coming soon' sign, that hadn't been there that morning sitting out on the window.

"I wonder what it will be," Lukas thought out loud.

"Hopefully a restaurant," Tino replied. "I'm getting sick of fried chicken,"

"How can you get sick of fried chicken?" Nathan asked. "Tasty and cheap."

"And unhealthy," Tino complained.

"Maybe it's going to be a Subway," Mathias suggested, interrupting Tino.

"Maybe Chinese food," Emil insisted.

"I hate Chinese food," Lukas grumbled.

"Chinese food hates you," Emil glared at his brother.

A man, sporting a bright neon yellow shirt and a pair of glasses, appeared from inside the building holding another sign. Everyone went quiet for a moment, except for Lukas who muttered something about neon shirts being a terrible invention. They watched eagerly as the sign was hung, but then there was a gasp.

_Coming Soon: Starbucks_

Silence plagued the room as everyone slowly turned and looked at Mathias. He continued to stare out the window with his hands and nose touching the glass.

Tino finally spoke up. "There's nothing to worry about, right?" He patted Mathias's back. "We'll keep our customers."

The man from before had walked back outside and looked directly at the six of them staring out the window. He began waving and shouting something.

The Nordics began waving back, each forcing a smile. Nathan, instead of acting nice, punched the window hostilely. He continued to smile, though looking mildly concerned, and then almost hurriedly went back into the soon-to-be-Starbucks. "Stupid glasses man with bad fashion sense," Nathan muttered.

"There's no way Køhler's Koffee would fall due to that blabbering nonsense." Emil hissed.

Mathias withdrew himself from the window. "You're right!" He declared, climbing onto the nearest table and standing before the rest. "We have amazing coffee made with love, loyal customers, attractive Germanic accents, and donuts. We cannot lose to some lame, well-known and popular coffee shop!"

"Yeah!" the rest agreed enthusiastically. Mathias removed his work hat and slammed it down onto the table. The five others watched in terror as he slipped and fell onto the castle of cards subsequently.

* * *

Less than a week after the Starbucks' grand opening, Køhler's Koffee was deserted. Even their neighbors, Matthew and Francis, abandoned them. They would come by in the mornings, but then Mathias would see them walk across the street to the Starbucks. After the couple of customers during the early mornings leave, it would be as if they were closed.

The Bondevik brothers grew bored of the lack of business and began spending their time playing slap-tag or doodling on the chalkboard. When Berwald wasn't cleaning up after them, he feasted upon donuts and surfed the internet with Tino.

Mathias paced around the same table for hours, occasionally glancing at the door. Tino had asked if he was okay twice, and he swore he was. Nathan was perched by the front window in a nest made of his jacket, scarf and napkins, glaring at the building across the street. Tino and Berwald swear they haven't seen him blink once, and they hear him talking to himself from time to time. Nobody dared ask if he's okay or speak to him. They all knew he wasn't alright.

All was quiet, but the silence was broken when Mathias slammed a fist on the table that he was pacing around. He gained everyone's attention and spoke after a cry in pain from his now-sore hand. "I've had enough of this self-pity!" he declared, his right eye shed a tear. "We need to get rid of that over-priced, bean-water store and that gross Alfred Jones!"

"How do you expect us to do that?" Emil asked, sarcastically. "Bake him a cake and write 'leave' in pink icing on top of it?"

"We stuff the cake with weed and watch him after he eats it," Lukas added.

"No, I have a better idea," Nathan chimed in, getting up from his nest. Everyone stared in silence up until the point Nathan was dashing from behind the counter to the door holding a rather large axe in his hands. Tino laughed, expecting a 'just kidding' that would not come.

Emil and Lukas were to first to chase after him. They managed to grab Nathan as he was exiting the shop. "I will dismantle this establishment_, board by board!_" He screamed before Berwald approached him from behind and took him from the siblings' hands. He was dragged back into Køhler's Koffee as everyone standing in a 100 meter radius stared at them, horrified.

"You can't just attempt to vandalize!" Mathais gripped at him. "Where did you even get this axe?! You're not a fucking Viking!" Mathias jerked the weapon away from Nathan. "Go home, all of you, I need time to think and act."

* * *

Berwald was the first to arrive to work the next morning, and the first to find Mathias Køhler, shaking and pale, lying by the entrance. Berwald kneeled down in front of him.

"Mathias, what happened?"

"I broke into Starbucks,"

"And you…"

"Brewed all their coffee,"

"And proceeded to…"

"Try drinking it all," Berwald sighed; he didn't know how to react. "I can't feel my legs, Waldy."

Another sigh. "Let me help you inside," As Berwald dragged his boss in, Lukas and Emil pulled up. Berwald had finally gotten him inside when they walked in. Lukas was in one of his 'off-work-and-feeling-hot' tops and wearing eyeliner. Emil was slightly dressed up, too, only more casually.

Emil burst into uncontrollable laughter when he took one look at Mathias. Lukas kneeled down next to him and lifted up his upper body.

"Mathias, what's wrong?" he whispered, exaggeratedly pulling off a concern tone.

"Luk," he whispered back, looking at his life-long friend in the eyes sadly. "Why are you wearing makeup?" Lukas put a finger over his lips to cut him off.

"Shh, that's not important right now," Mathias nodded. Emil, who had grown silent, made an annoyed sigh. "Brother, please, let me handle this," Lukas took a short glance at Emil before he looked back at Mathias. Emil pouted and sat down. Berwald continued to stand and watch his coworkers, confused and interested, but mostly confused.

"I tried to take them down, Luk," Mathias coughed. "They're too powerful, with too much coffee to drink," Lukas suddenly dropped him, sighing in absolute disappointment.

"Nice going bæ," Lukas removed his coat and draped it onto Mathias. "Now sit tight, Emil and I have a better plan." Lukas walked out with a preppy posture to his walk, Emil followed behind. Mathias gently uncovered his face from Lukas' jacket.

"That little shit…"

* * *

The two returned about half an hour later in a rather shameful looking walk into the store. Mathias looked up from his blanket-jacket. "Did it work?" he asked.

"Well, you see," Emil responded. "Things were going well at first,"

"I ran in and accused him of leaving me and the baby," Lukas added.

"I forgot two of my lines,"

"But my fake tears made up for it,"

"But then that half-cooked loaf of bread played along!" Emil threw his hands up in the air in frustration.

"Everyone cheered for 'Miss Baker' and Alfred Jones' 'engagement', to sum it all up," Lukas reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. "He gave me his number, too,"

Mathias suddenly stood up, walked over to Lukas, grabbed the piece of paper out of his hand and shoved it in his mouth. "No, he didn't," he whispered, swallowing it. He went back to lying in his spot without another word.

"Guys!" Tino burst through the door, holding a box. "Sorry, I'm late. I was baking a cake."

"You can't be serious," Emil walked over and opened the lid of the box, revealing a chocolate cake with the word 'leave' written in pink icing on top. "Pink icing and all,"

"Did you remember the weed?" Lukas asked.

"Are you nuts? Why would I have weed or any access to weed?" Tino looked at Lukas and mouthed 'yes' at him. Lukas grinned and gave Tino an approving nod.

"I don't think he's just going to pack up and leave just because the cake told him to," Mathias sighed.

"Yeah, he would have to be high to do something like that," Tino replied, mockingly. "Hey, Ber,"

Berwald looked up from the table he was sitting at and dozing off on. "Hm?"

"Come with me to deliver this cake,"

"Sure,"

* * *

As Tino and Berwald started towards Starbucks, Tino hummed and smiled at about everyone on the way in. Alfred Jones greeted them just seconds after they had arrived.

"Hello, aren't you two from the shop across the street?" he asked.

"Yes," Tino replied.

"We are," Berwald added, awkwardly. "We have something for you," Alfred looked at the box, curiously.

"I'll have a look-oops!" as Alfred reached for the box, he somehow managed to knock it from Tino's hands. Tino watched as his box of cake fell to the ground. "Wow, I'm sorry," Alfred picked up the brown-and-pink splashed box.

Tino went speechless and laughed nervously, pointing to his ruined cake. On the other hand, Berwald was furious. He grabbed Tino's wrist and pulled him out of the shop.

"Berwald, what's gotten into you?" Tino whined. "Why are you so angry?"

"Aren't you angry?" he responded, letting go of his wrist. "He ruined your cake,"

"Are you kidding? That thing was made ruined," Tino complained. "My cooking sucks, but do you think he'll still eat it?"

"He looks like the kind of guy that would eat off the floor, but if he doesn't, I will make him,"

"Geez, okay," Tino laughed. "I don't think we can go back now," The two shrugged and strolled into their own shop.

"How did it go?" Lukas asked when the two entered.

"He broke the cake," Tino replied.

"He… _Broke_ the cake?" Lukas repeated.

"Tino means he dropped the cake," Berwald corrected.

"Well, guess we're out of ideas," Mathias cried from the floor.

"Not quite," Berwald said, walking to the back room.

* * *

Køhler's Koffee, with their new sign that read 'Free donut with every purchase', got their normal business back the next day, if not more business than usual. After the morning rush, while Nathan, Mathias, and Lukas danced and cheered, Berwald approached Tino on his way back to the kitchen.

"Sorry about your cake, Tino,"

"I told you it's fine," Tino laughed. "Besides, we have business again," A package was suddenly thrown in front of Tino; both workers looked up in surprise to see Alfred Jones in front of the counter. Everyone else was too distracted to see in come in, and he more-than-likely ignored the 'no Alfred Jones' sign on the front entrance.

"So, I couldn't help but try that… That… Big chocolate thing," Alfred seemed a little loopy, obviously getting the hit from the cake's ingredients.

"The cake?" Tino grinned at Berwald and looked back over at Alfred.

"Yeah! Like, at first I wasn't going to try it but then I did and it tastes like my brother's cooking and I ate all of it. Do you know Matthew? He works next door at that bookstore." Alfred babbled out, giggling a little. Tino patted him on the shoulder.

"You're Matthew's brother? You guys do look similar." Tino told him.

"Yeah,"

Berwald slowly extended his arm and touched the box he had thrown in front of Tino. "What's this?"

"Oh I made a cake for you, to say sorry for dropping yours'," Berwald immediately shoved it off the counter. Cake splattered all over the floor and Alfred's shoes.

"I'm not," Berwald replied, keeping eye contact with Alfred.

* * *

**Author's note: Just a couple of things.**

**One being I do not claim ownership of Hetalia, the characters, Starbucks, Subway, or any other works included in this fanfiction.**

**Two,"I will dismantle this establishment, board by board!" is a Spongebob reference.**

**Three, when Lukas calls Mathias "bæ", he isn't using it as a term of endearment. This literally means poop in Danish.**

**Lastly, saying that, Lukas cares very much about Mathias and that will very much come out in later chapters and their past together.**

**Hope everyone had an amazing week! I'll bring another chapter next Thursday. Until then, bye!**


	3. Average Mornings

**Chapter 3: Average Mornings**

* * *

One October Morning, 2014

'_Don't kiss and tell!' _Mathias was jostled out of his sleep and almost onto the floor when his phone's alarm had gone off._ 'And you always tried to warn me…' _He writhed to get past his drowsiness and misperception as he blindly reached for his cellphone that was next to his pillow. _'Don't kiss and tell!' _His finger succeeded to hit every square inch of his screen before he shut off the alarm. His phone wallpaper of him and Lukas came up along with the digital clock showing it was 4:30a.m.

He listened for a moment hoping his roommate's sleep wasn't disrupted due to his alarm again. After waiting a good 10 seconds, he knew he was safe. So far, it's been a week since he hasn't woken even Emil's asswipe of a bird up in the morning and he's planning on keeping that new record up for as long as possible. It wasn't easy; Lukas owned such a small apartment for him, his brother and Mathias, and sometimes the slightest bit of noise can wake everybody up.

Mathias always had to get up much earlier than Lukas, though they both work the same hours. He has to start making coffee and check up on their stock of fresh baked goods, after all, and Lukas hated waking up at ungodly hours of the morning. Mathias didn't want to burden his best friend by waking him up earlier and making him work more than he is required to.

Mathias shut off the screen display and set his phone to the side. He sat up and fixed his twisted up night-shirt before he went to locate his pants. After picking up at least 3 shirts, a dirty sock, and an empty can of maybe soda, he couldn't tell, he managed to find what he hopes is a decently clean pair of pants. He slipped them on and felt his way around for the wall. He searched for the light switch when his hand touched the cheap wallpaper of his (guest) room. After getting more intimate with the wall than he has with anyone for at least the past year, he found the light switch and flicked it on.

"_Lort,_" he hissed, squinting his eyes. He walked almost blindly towards the closet located across the room from him. As he got near, he tiredly tripped over his own foot.

"Fu-Fu-Ffff!" his hand quickly went over his mouth, the other pounded against the closet door. He froze; one little mess up could have messed up his 7 days of a perfect record. Mathias counted the seconds in his head.

_One, two, three, four, five_… He should be safe. _Enough wasting time_, he told himself, _I have coffee to make and sell. _He removed his shirt and replaced it with a clean collared one. He walked carefully to his bedroom door. He journeyed to the bathroom and took a glimpse in the mirror. "Oh honey," he whispered very softly as he wiped the sleep out of his tired eyes. "Someone didn't get enough beauty sleep last night." He ran a hand through his messy dirty-blond hair and pinned it back. He gave his face a splash of cold water and went to work; combing, gelling, and styling his hair. After he was done, he smiled and winked at the reflection in the mirror. He felt a jab of embarrassment, considering the motion was rather stupid. He was happy nobody was awake to see that.

He turned around to leave when he came face to face with Mr. Puffin. Mathias screamed a muffled scream into his hand-good save! He had closed the bathroom door, how did he get in there? The bird stared into Mathias's blue eyes with its beady own. Mathias stayed still and stared back.

"Squawk!" the bird flapped its wings in an aggressive manner.

"No, shh shh shhh…" Mathias put his finger to his lips. Mr. Puffin shrieked back even louder in response.

"Damn bird, you'll wake Lukas and Emil, then we'll both have it!" The bird hissed another noise back at him, which Mathias assumed was "fuck you" in Puffin.

"I'll share my breakfast with you if you hush!" Mathias snapped in a whispered tone. The bird instantly went silent and flew onto his shoulder. _How does Emil even put up with this thing_?

Mathias entered the kitchen; Mr. Puffin flew off his shoulder and onto the table. He opened up the pantry and pulled out a large blueberry muffin. "Don't tell Emil," he whispered over to the puffin, as if it would plan on it even if it was able to speak. He broke the muffin in half and set one part on a plate for the bird. The bird happily ate while Mathias started making coffee with his share shoved into his mouth.

Emil's door creaked open gently and he entered the kitchen, staggering like a member of the undead. He tiredly glanced at Mathias and sat down in front of his bird. He was far too out of it to notice the crumbs on Mr. Puffin's beak and proceeded to pet the creature's head. Mathias took three more muffins out from the pantry, shoving two in his pocket. He poured a cup of coffee and served it to Emil with his muffin. The boy nodded at Mathias; he took it as 'good morning'. He patted Emil's shoulder and went back to the counter.

He made two more cups of coffee and picked one up. Carefully, he tip-toed to Lukas's door and slowly turned the knob. It was an everyday custom to leave him coffee and breakfast on his nightstand before he left the apartment. As he opened the door, though, every creaking sound imaginable was emitted. He heard Emil groan in annoyance from behind him, but nothing but soft, silent snoring came from the direction of Lukas's bed.

He walked to his bedside without another sound and set his mug down on the nightstand. Mathias turned and glanced at Lukas; he was snuggled comfortably under his covers with only his nose, eyes and some of his messy hair visible. He smiled; happy he didn't disturb Lukas's comfortable sleep that morning. He gently pulled one of the muffins out of his pocket and set it by the cup of coffee.

It had occurred to Mathias that the snoring ceased seconds after the muffin was positioned onto the small table. He glanced down at Lukas again. His eyes were open and he was beginning to sit up. "Mathias?" He groaned, glaring sleepily at him.

"Ah, _shit_!"

* * *

**Author's Note: Again, I don't take credit or ownership for the character presented in this chapter, nor any other works mentioned or referenced.**

**Translation: Lort is fuck in Danish.**

**Sorry for the short character, and thanks for all the feedback!**

**Also, shout out to AgentStormOO7 for leaving me pleasant reviews on several of my works. Happy birthday!**


	4. Halloween Special

Chapter 4: Halloween Special

* * *

October 31, 2014

Being a group of six, Mathias, Lukas, Emil, Berwald, Tino and Nathan very rarely agree on anything. When it comes to the end of October, they all approve of one thing; Halloween is the best holiday behind Christmas. A couple weeks prior, they all decided on a theme for the shop's decorations. Last year, Tino had chosen pirates, the year before, they agreed on a haunted house, and this year Lukas suggested they do a sorcerer's shop.

Berwald strung up multicolored lights and other decorations everywhere, black table cloths were put over the counter and tables along with candles, and everyone wore wizard hats the week of Halloween. The day of Halloween, they decided to close the shop an hour early to enjoy the holiday itself.

As Lukas exited the bathroom, Mathias came out of nowhere. "Hey Lukas!" Lukas instinctively hit him in the gut. "Ow!" He gasped.

"Don't sneak up on me like that," Lukas nagged. "I'm not even sorry,"

"Okay, but are you still going to Francis' party tonight?" he asked, wincing from the enduring pain in his gut. Lukas tilted his head.

"Again, yes," Mathias had begged Lukas to come, though he didn't enjoy parties. "I'm not staying too long, or even drinking. I promised to watch a Halloween movie with Emil tonight, like we do every year."

"Ah?" Mathias frowned. "That sounds more fun than that party actually. How well do you think Francis hosts parties?"

"Are you guys talking about Francis' party?" Tino chimed into their conversation.

"Yeah," Lukas told him. "Are you going?"

"Of course I am, and so is Ber,"

"I guess I'll tag along, too," Nathan called from the counter.

"Great, a night at Francis' place, what can possibly go wrong?" Lukas made a face at them.

"Now that you say that, something will," Tino teased.

"Yeah, something will go wrong anyway, even if I didn't say that. Let's just hope nobody gets stabbed,"

* * *

Later, the six of them arrived, on foot, to Francis' house. Lukas was dressed in his handmade sorcerer's outfit, the one he wears every year, Mathias in a simple hooded cape with nothing much else to go with it other than a cheap grim reaper's scythe. Tino and Berwald went with matching police officer uniforms, and Emil dressed in a tux and bowtie that matched Mr. Puffin's, who also came and was sitting on Emil's shoulder. Nathan followed behind, dressed in a normal T-shirt and jeans under his jacket and scarf.

"Are we late?" Tino asked, looking around at the many cars parked in his driveway.

"I don't think so; he said it starts at 7 and its 6:30." Emil replied, looking at his watch.

"Early is the new late," Lukas muttered, looking at Emil. "I don't think you should have brought Mr. Puffin. What if someone tries stealing him?"

"They better be carrying pepper spray, then," Mathias answered. "That bird is vicious."

"Mr. Puffin wouldn't hurt a fly!" Emil protested. "He's the sweetest bird to ever live!"

"How many other birds have you met?" Lukas asked. "That fiend should win an award for being the biggest assho-" He was interrupted by Francis opening the front door for them.

"Welcome! Please come in!" He greeted them before leading them in. Inside was a respectfully big crowd. "There aren't many people here yet but I'm sure they'll be more here soon enough,"

"Oh, wow," Mathias raised an eyebrow. "How many people did you invite?"

"You know," Francis thought for a second. "I don't remember,"

"Did you lose count?" Lukas asked.

"Maybe,"

* * *

Lukas was sure Francis invited everyone in Brookdon, and maybe half of Seattle. Francis was fortunate he had a large enough house and yard, or else there wouldn't be any room to walk around. He got separated from the rest and couldn't seem to find them again. He pushed his way through sweaty strangers and went out the back door. Lucky for him, there was more room outside than inside. He sat on a patio chair and removed his hat_. I wasn't going to stay this late_, he grumbled internally as he looked at his watch; 10:21 p.m.

_Why did I even bother coming?_ He asked himself. He could be at home watching cheesy horror movies already with Emil and the bird. _Stupid Mathias and his begging, he shouldn't have invited me if he knew I was just going to sit here and be bored. He's probably not even wondering where I am._

Lukas knew that wasn't true, of course, though he didn't feel like it wasn't the case. He and Mathias have been best friends since 1st grade and living together since that summer. Mathias can be stupid and just plain rude, but he couldn't count how many times he had done something for him that was completely selfless.

But how much has Lukas done for him back? Lukas started to feel nauseated at the thought. Maybe he needs to think about something else. Besides, Mathias probably doesn't keep track of things like that over the many years they've known each other.

"Lukas, hi," If it wasn't for the recognizable voice of Matthew Braginsky, he probably wouldn't have recognized him. He had his hair brushed and under a pirate hat, no glasses on, an eye patch and a pirate's overcoat on. "Did you get lost, too?"

"You're lost, too?" Lukas glanced around him. "Tell me you didn't bring your kids."

"Of course not!" Matthew sat by him. "I know how Francis' parties get. They're with my brother right now."

"Alfred?"

"Yeah, also where can I get one of Tino's cakes? I heard from Alfred that they are amazing," Lukas could tell by his face that he was joking.

"Are we mad that we drugged your brother?"

"No, not at all," Matthew laughed. "I used to bake weed into food and give it to him,"

"Really?" Lukas' jaw nearly dropped. "I don't believe you,"

"Why not? I'm serious. It was a joke when we still lived with our dad but now it's a way to get him to be less annoying when he visits."

"Matthew, that's _wrong_!"

"Hey, you don't have room to talk. Tino told me it was your idea to put weed in the cake,"

"I wasn't serious about it until he actually did it," Matthew sat back into his chair, trying to contain his laughter. "Are you ever going to tell him?"

"When he realizes that special lingering feeling isn't my cooking skills. Why do you look so surprised, Lukas?"

"I do? I mean, I am surprised. You always seemed to be someone that would stay away from causing trouble."

"I get that a lot, just remember, not everyone can be as innocent as they look,"

"True, and nobody learned that a harder way than Ivan, huh?"

"Nope,"

"Luuuukkkassss," Tino stumbled over to him and grabbed his ear. "What's this? Oh," He let go and Lukas grabbed onto his wrists. It wasn't unusual for Tino to quickly get drunk at parties. Even though for someone that has been a heavy partier for more or less a few years, he gets into his loopy stages like a new drinker. Tino was a fun drunk; he was already energetic and flirtatious, but even more intensely when he was on alcohol. Usually Berwald would stay by him and make sure he wasn't too much trouble, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Tino, are you drunk already?" Lukas asked.

"I'm not Krunk I'm Tino," Tino struggled to get Lukas to let go of his wrists. "Let go! Let go! Let go!"

Lukas ignored his pleas and held onto his wrists tightly as he tried pulling away. "Where's Berwald?"

"Bear was getting water but he was taking too long. I saw a cat and I pet it, but I got slapped."

"Was it a big cat?" Matthew asked, laying his arms and head on the table. Tino screamed and jumped onto Lukas' lap as if he didn't know Matthew was sitting there. Lukas fought to get Tino to calm down and sit still. He ended up having to hold him in a bridal position with Tino's head resting under his chin before he finally settled down. It took a second for Tino to start fighting to get off of Lukas and onto Matthew.

"It's just Matthew, contain yourself," Lukas growled. Tino went limp in Lukas' arms, making him have to sit him back up in his lap. "I think you need to find Berwald again,"

"That takes effort," Lukas shook his head. "Mathias is looking for you,"

"He is? Where did you see him?"

"He's been looking around inside for you,"

"How long ago?" Tino looked down at his hands. Lukas assumed he was counting until he started just playing with his fingers instead. He opened his mouth to ask him again but Tino quickly pointed.

"I don't know, ask him," Lukas turned his head around to see Mathias running towards them.

"You know, never mind,"

"There you are," Mathias hugged him around his neck; he smelled vodka in his breath. "I was looking for you,"

"Me too," Mathias continued to hug him. "Um, where's Emil?"

"I think he's with Nathan,"

"Where's Nathan?"

"I don't know," Mathias' voice went very discreet. "Shh, lemme sleep," without sitting down, Mathias rested his head behind Lukas' and he didn't speak again.

* * *

Emil, Francis, Nathan and several others sat in a circle in the living room, passing numerous drinks around.

"Aren't you too young to drink?" Nathan asked Emil as he downed some wine straight from the bottle.

"I don't know," Emil grumbled. He passed the bottle to the person sitting next to him.

"How about you?" Nathan pointed to the guy sitting beside Emil, who looked around his age.

"That's not important, I'm sure you drank when you were underaged." He retorted.

"I was 21, legal age,"

"Oh… How about smoking?" Emil added.

Nathan lifted an eyebrow. "Touché." Emil turned to the guy next to him, who he had never seen around before. He looked quite attractive, even in a panda bear onesie that was too big for him. He subtly smiled at Emil, took a sip from the bottle and passed it back to him.

Emil took a sip and quickly pulled away from the bottle down when he was, again, pushed forward by someone walking by. "Did everyone in Brookdon come here?"

Francis laughed. "Everybody but Arthur,"

"Arthur, your employee, didn't come to your party?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, he's just not a party person."

"Do you know where he lives?" Francis suspiciously glanced at him.

"I do, why?"

Nathan carefully stood up and stretched his arms. "Let's go,"

"Go… To Arthur's house?"

"Where else?"

"But why?"

"Because why not," Nathan wrapped his scarf around his neck. "Let's give him a nice Francisween surprise. How far away does he live?"

"We can walk," Francis stood up, took another sip from his bottle of wine and set it down.

* * *

Berwald headed back to the hallway where he had left Tino standing just a few seconds ago when he got a glass of water. He wasn't surprised to see that Tino had run off. He probably shouldn't have left him alone while he went to get a drink, but he had only taken a few seconds to grab a cup and pour some water into it. Tino shouldn't have gone too far in just a short period of time.

He pushed through the crowd easily, searching. It was hard to see over the packs of familiar strangers. He got tired of looking after a few minutes and sat down in a chair in the kitchen.

He tried to call Tino's number, but he didn't pick up. He sighed and stuck his phone back into his pocket. Tino was already disgustingly drunk and probably on his way to cause trouble. Maybe Mathias or Lukas found him.

Lukas struggled to get to Emil's name on his phone. Tino found it absolutely hilarious to mess him up by touching the screen, and then laughing very loudly in his ear. He finally pressed call on Emil's contact with one arm slung around Tino and his hand over his mouth. Emil finally picked up after a few seconds.

"I can't talk right now," Emil whispered into the phone.

"Why not? Where are you? Are you okay?" Lukas asked. He heard another voice whisper 'hang up the phone, Emil,' "Okay who the fuck was that?"

"That was Francis, chill, I'm alright. I-" A long pause.

"You what?"

"Sorry, I need to go. I'll tell you what's going on later," before Emil hung up, there was a scream.

* * *

Emil closely followed behind Francis and Nathan while they walked down the sidewalk. A hand brushed against his arm. He flinched and noticed there was someone by him.

"Hi," it was the guy in the panda onesie from before, taking a hold of his arm. Emil took a deep breath.

"Hi," He replied. "I've never seen you around here before, where are you from?"

"China," Emil gave him a look; he expected a reply like the next town over or even Seattle. "Okay, maybe first Seattle. My family moved here a few days ago. I'll be starting school next Monday."

"Wow, how did you end up at a party?"

"My dad is going to open a restaurant up on Windgate Avenue, next to Francis' store. I heard about it from him."

"I work at the coffee shop on the other side of his shop," Emil told him.

"Really?" Nathan shushed them and pointed to Francis when he got their attention.

"Okay," Francis whispered. "I see his bedroom lights are on, so he's in there. You two are going to hide in the bushes next to his window and knock. Just a few times, make sure he doesn't see you. Nathan, you go knock on the window on the other side of the house, I'll take the kitchen window."

Emil and his new friend went for the bushes as they were told. While Emil began to ease himself under the leaves, the other stood back and watched.

"I don't want to get my kigurumi dirty," he complained.

"Then take it off, here," Emil removed his messenger bag carefully and opened it. "One second," he removed Mr. Puffin, who was asleep, from the bag.

"Is that a puffin, like a _real_ puffin?"

"Yes, shhh, now quickly take off your thing and put it in here. It'll be safe."

"Okay," He removed the bear suit and shoved it into the bag. "Where is your bird going to stay?" Emil slipped Mr. Puffin into his shirt.

"Just hope to God he doesn't wake up,"

"Okay," Francis walked around the corner.

"Stop stalling!" He whispered. "Get in the bushes, count to 10 and knock, okay?"

"Alright," they both whispered back. Emil threw his bag into the bushes and they climbed in with it.

"One… Two…" Emil whispered.

"Three… Four… Five…" The other added.

"Six… Seven… Eight… Nine…" Emil continued.

"Ten," they both said and knocked loudly on Arthur's window. They stuck their arms back down before Arthur aggressively opened his blinds and the window.

"Who's out there?" The two teens down in bushes had to cover their mouths to avoid laughing and getting caught. Arthur let out a deep sigh and closed his window. There was more knocking coming from the other side of the house. Emil let some of his laughter out when he knew Arthur had left his bedroom.

"What's your name?"

"Emil,"

"I'm Leon, and I think we're going to be great friends,"

"Me too,"

"Emil, Panda, come on," Nathan ran up to the bushes.

"Already?" Emil peaked out from the branches.

"Yeah, we're going inside, now hurry." Emil and Leon nodded and grabbed the bag before following Nathan. They met up with Francis at the back door.

"Okay guys, no breaking things or attacking him, okay?" The three others nodded. Francis cautiously opened the door and they crept into the house. "He should be in the kitchen, let's move to his bedroom." On the way to the room, Emil's phone rang loudly.

"Shit," Francis covered his mouth. "Silence that thing,"

"But it's Lukas," Emil answered the phone. "I can't talk right now," Francis covered his eyes in shame.

"Hang up the phone, Emil," he growled. They heard footsteps heading towards the room. "Hide!"

"That was Francis, chill, I'm alright. I-" Emil ran and hid behind the bed with Leon. The footsteps had stopped near the room. Francis got up and peered around the door space.

"Sorry, I need to go. I'll tell you what's going on later," Francis had let out an agonizing scream as Emil hung up the phone and fell backwards.

The light was turned on, revealing Arthur standing over Francis, who had a knife in his leg. "_Francis?_"

"This was a bad, bad idea!" Francis cried.

"You bet it was," Arthur growled. "What the fuck were you thinking?" He glanced up. "Come out, the rest of you,"

Slowly, Emil, Leon and Nathan all came out from their hiding places. "Get out of here, all of you; I'll handle Francis from here,"

* * *

Berwald made it outside after having to almost pick people up to get through the house. He instantly saw what he was looking for, but didn't expect to see; Tino on Lukas' lap, fighting with him over a phone with Mathias hugging Lukas around his neck, probably asleep. Matthew was there, too.

"Bear!" Tino stood up and ran over to Berwald. He had to stop him from trying to climb onto him. "I found you at last!"

"Or I found you, Tino,"

"Shh," Tino grabbed onto the front of his uniform. "We're wearing the same thing, Bear,"

"We are,"

"That's funny,"

"It's time to go home," Tino tried breaking into a sprint away from him.

Lukas dialed Emil's number after getting ahold of his phone.

"Hey Lukas, sorry about that,"

"What the hell are you doing? Are you okay? What was that scream? Where are you?" He questioned.

"Walking back to Francis' house, yes, that was Francis, and we took a stroll down to Arthur's house."

"You know what," Lukas sighed, trying to push his drunken friend to loosen the grip around his neck. "I'm about to leave. Get Francis to walk you back to the apartment."

"I'm only with Nathan and Leon now,"

"Who's Leon?"

"Oh, a new guy, he-"

"Walk him back to his place or back here but make sure you all arrive somewhere safely, including Nathan and your friend. Where's Francis?"

"Still at Arthur's" _How inappropriate, leaving your own wild party alone and not coming back, _Lukas thought to himself.

"Alright, be careful, okay?"

"Okay, _mom_,"

* * *

"Was that your mom?" Leon asked while Emil hung up his phone.

"No, it was my brother. Where do you live?" He asked.

"A few streets over, why?"

"Lukas said to walk you back to your house or to Francis',"

"I can make it on my own,"

"No, it's fine, plus I promised him I would," The three began walking to Leon's house.

When they got to the driveway, he turned around and hugged Emil. "Thanks,"

"You're welcome," Leon let go of him and ran to his window.

"What a cool dude," Nathan muttered while they were walking to the apartments.

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I think he likes you," Emil gave him a skeptical look.

"What?"

"Either that or he enjoys following some kid around in a tux,"

"Hm, you're a little more observant tonight,"

"I'm always observant," Nathan brushed his messy hair out of his face.

"Then you're being talkative,"

"Hm. I won't tell Lukas about your boyfriend," Emil punched his arm.

"Okay, you're being _too_ talkative,"

"We're leaving," Lukas said to Matthew.

"Guess I actually have to go look for Ivan now," Matthew sighed.

"Good luck getting through the house," Lukas told him. Matthew sighed even louder. He looked up to see Ivan slowly walking up behind Matthew.

"Boo!" Ivan touched both of Matthew's shoulders, scaring him.

"YES!" Matthew yelled. He pinched Ivan's cheek.

"What?" Ivan asked, confused.

"I don't have to go back into that house," Matthew whined.

"Sorry, медведь," Ivan leaned over and kissed his cheek a few times. "I didn't know it'll be that crowded."

"It's fine, I got to chat with Lukas for a while. Did you have fun?"

"I did," Matthew kissed his forehead.

Lukas got up and unwrapped Mathias' arms from around his neck. Mathias slowly opened his eyes and gazed at Lukas, confused. "And everything worked out. We'll be going now."

"Bye," Matthew and Ivan waved as they exited through the gate.

* * *

The walk to Lukas' apartment was quiet, strangely quiet. Lukas was too tired to make notice of it until they arrived back to the room.

"Hey Mathias," Lukas spoke up while Mathias went to lie down on the couch. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I just have a headache," Mathias rubbed his head. "Some guy threw a bottle at me, it hurt."

"We could have left earlier if you wanted," Lukas sat down by him.

"You had things to do, and you have to make sure Emil was okay,"

"I could have done that while walking home,"

"Yeah, that's because you're awesome," Lukas remembered how he blamed Mathias for having a bad time earlier that night. He started to feel bad.

"So are you," He whispered. Mathias gave him a look.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah," Lukas looked at him.

Mathias got up and crawled on Lukas' lap and sat down in the same position Tino was in earlier that night. It wasn't a common thing for Mathias to get touchy with him, but it wasn't a rare thing, either, for him or Lukas allowing him to do so. "I'm sorry for dragging you in something like that again, but I'm glad to see you had fun anyway,"

"It's fine, Mathias,"

"You're smiling, Luk," Mathias poked his cheek gently. "People ask me if you ever smile and I used to get upset because I thought you were unhappy,"

"I'm happy Mathias," Lukas assured him. Mathias pressed close to his chest and tucked his legs in, trying to stay balanced on Lukas, who was much smaller than he was.

"I know you are, but you never externally show it like most other people. I also know that when you do smile, it means you're extra happy,"

Lukas sighed, smiling even more. "Go to sleep, Mathias, you're starting your late night talk,"

"I don't appreciate you enough, though,"

"Yes, you appreciate me too much,"

"You don't even make me pay rent,"

"That's because you pay rent in a different way," Lukas brushed the hair from his face. "Now go to sleep,"

"Okay," Mathias mumbled, almost in a whiny tone. He lay across Lukas' lap and grabbed one of the pillows. "Goodnight,"

"I didn't mean on me," Mathias was fast asleep before he had an opportunity to get his point across. Lukas yawned and carefully positioned himself next to him, laying his head half on his back and half on the couch cushion. "Goodnight, Mathias."

* * *

Tino was still restless by the time Berwald had dragged him to his house. He had to promise him to take him to eat at Denny's, which he would probably forget in the morning but Berwald would still carry out anyway, to get him to calm down a little. When they got into the house, Tino threw his hands into the air.

"Party at Bear's!" Berwald locked the door and put a finger up to his lips.

"Shh,"

"Oh oh!" Tino said in a loud whisper. "Is he sleeping? How's he doing? How old is he now? Can I see him? Please? Please?"

"Only if you be quiet. Mr. Edelstein is probably asleep on the couch. You shouldn't wake him either."

"Okay," Tino whispered, excited. Berwald took Tino's arm and brought him into the room that was adjacent to Berwald's. He watched as Tino walked up to the small sized bed in the corner and peered down at his 2-year-old son, Peter, who slept silently in the bed. For the whole couple minutes Tino looked at him, not one word was spoken. How he can go from acting drunk and ridiculous to calm when he was around Peter was beyond Berwald.

_ 'What a lovely sight it is.'_

He shamefully imagined how it would be if Tino did the same, sober, and every night. Since they were young, he always knew Tino would make a nice parent. He still thought so, even if Tino doesn't seem to settle down for a serious relationship. As long as Tino enjoyed his dating habits, and it wasn't hurting him or anyone else, Berwald was happy, even when from time to time, he would want to ask 'why not me?'.

Tino turned around and quietly walked up to Berwald, in which Berwald took as he was ready to be taken to the guestroom. Instead, Tino stood on the tips of his toes and kissed him. This wasn't the first time Tino tried to kiss him or even successfully kissed him while drunk. He never remembers doing it. This was the first time Berwald uncaringly kissed him back, just like how he's always wanted to since his started having feelings towards him.

Berwald absentmindedly kissed him back before he realized what had happened. "Tino, no, you're drunk," he whispered, trying to not sound angry.

"But," Tino looked at him sadly. Berwald picked him up and quickly took him out of the room. He set Tino down on his feet and closed the door. "Bear,"

"_Ber_," he silently corrected him, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry," Berwald thought it was silly that he was apologizing. It was dirty and selfish of him consider letting himself give in in the past, and now he actually did it this time. He wasn't proud, he wasn't angry at Tino, he was angry with himself. He knew Tino probably wouldn't feel the same sober, and alcohol didn't mean he actually was consenting. Berwald was basically stepping over a line that would make his beloved mother cry to even think her son would do after he was told the words 'alcohol and clothing are not consent; only sober words are' over and over again all his teen years.

"Ber… Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." He lied. "I'm sorry. Let me get you some clothes so you to change into."

"Okay!" Tino disappeared into the guest room without another word.

Berwald dug one of Tino's shirts and shorts that he kept in one of his drawers, for one of these nights, for him to wear to bed. He replayed the kiss in his head, over and over. 'He does this almost every time, shouldn't it count for something?' he shook his head, almost replying to himself. 'People do stupid things drunk,' He sobbed and wiped the few tears dribbling down from his eyes. He waited a minute before entering the guest bedroom again, where Tino was jumping on the bed. He stopped bouncing when he entered.

"Here's your clothes," Tino stood up and approached him. He took the clothes silently and turned around. Berwald went to leave the room.

"Bear," Tino sounded from behind him.

"Yes?"

"Aren't you going to tell me good night?"

"Good night, Tino, sweet dreams,"

"Sweet dreams," Tino replied, in a sad tone. Berwald stopped in his tracks, turned around and gave Tino a quick, tight hug. "Ber…" Berwald left the room in even more tears and conflicting thoughts.

* * *

Emil arrived to the apartment tired, dirty and with leaves and twigs littering his tux. He expected to be questioned when he walked through the door but he had found Mathias and Lukas asleep on the couch instead. "So much for our traditional movie marathon," he yawned. "And even worse, I come home to this. I swear…"

He dragged himself to his room and gently set Mr. Puffin in his bird-bed. "Goodnight, Mr. Puffin," He jumped onto his own bed, letting his bag lay there on his side. He then remembered something.

"Shit, I still have Leon's kigur-I mean onesie," He sat up, reached into his bag and pulled it out. "I'll take it to work just in case he happens to show up there," He stared at it for a second.

He pulled the fabric up to his face. He gently rubbed the side of his cheek and nose against it and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. 'Leon…'

In the car, Matthew reached over and removed the cat-ears headband that Ivan was wearing. "I have an odd question,"

Ivan smiled, but kept his eyes on the road. "What is it?"

"Did you slap Tino Väinämöinen in the face?"

"… How'd you know about that?" Matthew was consumed in laughter. For the rest of the night, Ivan was unable to get an answer out of him. Matthew would just laugh when he tried asking again.

* * *

"Hey Nathan," Francis spoke as soon as he picked up the phone. "Can you do me a favor?"

"You want me to watch over your house while you're receiving medical help after being stabbed by a kitchen knife?"

"Yeah, can you do that?"

"Well…"

He sighed. "Of course I'll pay you. Feel free to take anything out of the fridge down in the basement, too and you can sleep on my bed, just don't let anyone else sleep there also,"

"Got it,"

Francis hung up when Arthur entered the room.

"I have to ask again," he sighed, putting a glass of water and a pack of painkillers on the TV tray next to where Francis was on the couch. "What possessed you to think entering my house for a prank on Halloween was a good idea?"

"Simple answer; the alcohol made me do it." Arthur removed the painkillers from the tray.

"I guess I should give you tea instead,"

"I'd really like that. Sorry I snuck into your house,"

"I'm sorry for stabbing you,"

"Sorry I got blood on your floor,"

"I'm sorry I skipped going to your party,"

"Don't be,"

"Take it easy, old man, you've said sorry enough," Arthur sighed. "I did murderously put a kitchen knife into your leg so maybe I should be sorry for somethings, too."

"Thanks for taking care of me,"

"My pleasure,"

* * *

The time was 3 a.m. and most of Francis' guests have left. The others who stayed had fallen asleep in the living room or the bathroom. Nathan emerged from the basement, holding an arm full of snacks and sodas while dressed in Francis' finest bathrobe. He got to the bedroom, where he kicked back, relaxed and watched old horror movies on the TV till the morning of the first day of November, 2014.

* * *

**Important announcement: I might be updating every 2 weeks now. I just don't think I can handle spending every weekend writing to update every week just in case I'm busy one Saturday or something. And I also want to focus on working on other things along with KK, and finally wrap **_**When the Snow Falls**_** up soon. I hope this isn't too much of an inconvenience.**

** And thank you all, I know I say it every time I update but oh my god, THANK YOU.**

** I haven't even been writing for a complete year and I've gotten more support from my friends and you guys than I expected. Køhler's Koffee has, by far, gotten more attention quicker than any of my other works and I'm happy to put even more work into making this happen for you guys.**

** Notes about the chapter: This was a very fun chapter to type up, and I was actually not planning on adding a lot of things that happened in this chapter. I really meant to keep this story mainly for laughs, but yet again I end up writing some serious stuff.**

**I do not take ownership of the characters that appear in this work, nor do I own any other works mentioned in the text, including Denny's.**

_**1\. '"I get that a lot, just remember, not everyone can be as innocent as they look,"**_

_** "True, and nobody learned that a harder way than Ivan, huh?"**_

_** "Nope,"'**_

** This will be explained in Matthew and Ivan's backstory chapter.**

**2\. About the whole putting weed in baked goods for Alfred, I thought I should restate how Alfred had mentioned that Tino's cake reminded him of the ones Matthew makes in the Starbucks chapter.**

**Also, Matthew doesn't smoke pot much anymore. He multitasks with parenting and working and getting high doesn't mix well with his schedule.**

**3**_**. "Was it a big cat?"**_

**Matthew had asked Tino this after he explained that he saw a cat, pet it, and got slapped if the last part with Ivan and Matthew didn't make any sense.**

** 4\. I have a huge love for platonic ships. NorFin and NorCan are examples. I also throw in a lot of Franada, though a lot hasn't been shown yet. They were best friends in high school.**

** 5.** **медведь = bear in Russian.**

** 6\. Because I have a lot of DenNor things in progress/already written, I will be referencing some subtly into each other. For example, Mathias' headache is a hint towards Tangents and Asymptotes. (No, Mathias doesn't end up like he did in TaA. Køhler's Koffee was also referenced in that work, too, by the way.)**

** 7\. I might be writing the chapter that explains how Mathias started stay with Lukas soon.**

** 8\. About Berwald: I apologize for not making his crush on Tino more apparent in the past chapters. More about him and Peter will be shown in his chapter, which might or might not include Tino's, too.**

** 9\. How Roderich Edelstein ended up taking a job as a baby sitter will be explained in Berwald's as well as Mathias' chapters.**

** 10\. Nathan will get his own chapter, too, of course. He deserves like 10 chapters, I think.**

** I hope you all enjoyed this long chapter. May you all consider my future chapters and stories. Have a happy Halloween!**


	5. Lukas and Mathias

**Chapter 5: Lukas and Mathias**

* * *

July 7th, 2014

* * *

Lukas sat at the dining table in his small apartment around 2 in the morning. The TV was on in the adjacent room, on low volume, airing a show that Lukas didn't know, but he merely listened in on it for the time being. Instead of staring at the screen, he stared at the wall; bored and tired.

He was waiting for a call, and he wasn't going to bed until he got it.

* * *

Adulthood was in the out-of-the-question future for 6 year old Lukas back when he was in the first grade, sitting in a class full of strangers on the first day of school. His only friend, Tino, was unfortunately put in a different class that year. How he was going to pull through that year without him was the only thing about the future that was on his mind at the time.

Then came Mathias Køhler, who was one of those kids Lukas would usually ignore. He was a pretty boy who most of the other students, even from other classes, knew. He was the son of the high school algebra teacher and a college physics teacher, and most of the teachers knew him already. Lukas had heard of him before, girls were talking about how cute he was, but he didn't acknowledge the name nor did he care to see the face.

During recess, Lukas sat alone and watched a couple of bees move from flower to flower in front of him. He didn't really care to watch them; he didn't have anything else to do. He dazed while someone moved up behind you.

"I can pick up one of those bees without it stinging me," Mathias was so close, Lukas didn't have to turn his head to see him. "Just watch,"

"I don't think that's a good idea," it was too late; Mathias was already reaching for one of the bees. In just a few seconds, he was stung on the arm.

"Ow!" Mathias shouted, swatting away the bee. He reached for his arm when Lukas grabbed his hand.

"Hold still, you have to scratch it off," Lukas took his arm and scraped the stinger off. "There."

"Wow, thanks! Why do you have to scratch it off?"

"You can't pinch it off, or else you squeeze more poison into your body." Mathias was now clutching his arm. "You're not allergic, are you?"

"I don't know, but it really hurts," He looked closely at the red mark on his arm. "Do I have to go to the nurse?"

"Yes,"

"I don't wanna!" Mathias whined, Lukas took his arm and dragged him to the nurse. Fortunately, Mathias wasn't allergic, but unfortunately Lukas managed to sign a contract he never knew he was signing that day; he had become Mathias Køhler's best friend.

But they did become close very quickly, as expected. They were opposites, and their different personalities seemed to just click.

Frankly, he would be lying if he said Mathias wasn't _his_ best friend. He could go on and on how he and Tino got along much better, and how he could tolerate Nathan more than him, but he couldn't lie to himself. The large old pink bunny that rested against his pillows that had obviously been loved to death said otherwise.

It was a silly gift that Mathias had given him in middle school. It smelled like the massive amount of axe body spray he had drenched himself with every day when he first received it.

And now that he thinks about it, it still does.

But that's what he slept by every night.

What he tossed up into the air over and over on sleepless nights.

And, of course, what he cried on when life was just too much at that moment.

He would also be lying if he said it was just because it was the softest object on his bed, or any other excuse he could think of quickly. He cared about it, and he cared about Mathias.

* * *

And if he didn't care about Mathias, he wouldn't have asked what was wrong when he noticed his off mood that day.

It was break time, and Lukas had journeyed over Ivan and Matthew's bookstore to kill time and maybe find a good book to read when he had more free time. And, for some reason, the bookstore was cute. Lukas can't describe why to even himself, but he felt nostalgic when he was there.

He greeted Ivan when he came in and also said hello to his newly adopted baby Estelle, who was cutely sleeping snug in her father's arms. Matthew was at a shelf, restocking books. They exchanged a few words before Lukas began looking through the new release section, picking up the books that took his interested.

Mathias had wondered in, as he had rarely done in the past. Upon seeing him, it occurred to him that he hadn't heard him speak once that day.

Something was off. Lukas tapped his shoulder.

"Hey…" The word came out of softly and as if he was out of breath.

"What's wrong?"

"What makes you think something's wrong?" It was clearly an attempt to sound alright. Lukas brought his voice down to a whisper.

"You're moping, it's so obvious. You don't handle holding in emotions for too long, so please tell me." Harsh, that could have gone a little better. "Please,"

Mathias glanced around. "Gilbert is no longer staying with me,"

"Why not?" Lukas asked, confused.

"He decided running off with Roderich's wife was a much better idea than staying with me," Mathias sighed.

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, a week ago, actually. He packed his bags, told me he was running away with Liz, and well, that's what he did. This doubles my rent, and as you know, business isn't the best during the summer. I don't know if I'm able to afford staying there without grabbing from my savings."

Lukas' mind was still set on Gilbert's situation. Did that kind of things happen in real life? Where is Roderich now? Is he okay? Lukas realized that wasn't important, at the moment at least, and Mathias was in a situation himself.

"Can't you ask your parents to maybe help you out?" he asked. He didn't know what else to tell him.

"They already helped me enough starting up my own business, it wouldn't set right." Mathias wiped the sweat from his forehead. "But I guess it's what I might have to do if it comes to it."

Lukas thought for a moment. He couldn't just let him off without offering him working advice or help. "I'll help you out if you're really that desperate."

"I couldn't ask you to do that,"

"No, you can. We both know that," Lukas looked him in the eyes. "I'm sure I could give you something,"

"I'll keep that in mind if I do need help. Thanks Lukas," Finally, a smile appeared on Mathias' face. "This is why you're my best friend."

That evening, after work, Lukas continued to think about Mathias' situation. He couldn't blame him for being upset; his roommate ditched him for a married woman, left him on his own while he wasn't doing well with his income, and he might have to depend even more on the people around him.

Lukas promised him he would help out, but what did he mean by that?

He had some extra money, but not much, considering that he had to pay his own rent.

He then remembered the empty room in his apartment. What an absurd thought; him and Mathias living together along with Emil? To him, that sounded like one of those weird plotlines for sitcoms.

But life was full of crazy plot twists. If his life was going to be a sitcom in order to help Mathias out, then so be it. He picked up his phone and dialed his number.

"Hey," Mathias said upon picking up.

"Hey," Lukas responded. "It's late but I think you need to start packing your bags."

"What? Why?"

"Because, if Gilbert abandoned you in your time-of-need, I can't just do the same. I have a perfectly good room right here. Call your landlord, make arrangements to leave, and get your ass over here."

There was a pause. "Huh?"

"You heard me."

Another pause. "I did, I just can't believe it. Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." No hesitation.

"How about Emil?"

"He'll be fine."

"Alright, why right now? Why tonight?"

"Because I don't want you to be on your own for another night." They both went quiet; Lukas could only hear Mathias' breathing from the other line.

"Let me get things arranged, and pack. It'll be awhile, but I'll come. Get some sleep, I'll call when I get near."

"That's fine,"

"Thank Lukas." Lukas heard him sniffle. _Was he crying?_ "No, really, thank you. You're the greatest friend I've ever had and ever will have."

"No problem, Mathias,"

"I'll make it up to you someday."

"Hm, it's fine. Start packing, I'll be waiting." After that, they hung up. For such a rash action, Lukas didn't feel any sudden feelings of regrets that he was going through with this.

Lukas was dozing off when his phone went off. He took a second to come back into reality before he answered it.

"Hey, I'm almost there, you might as well come down," Mathias sounded even more tired than he was.

"Alright, how much stuff do you have?" He asked, exiting his apartment door.

"A lot, but it'll be okay if we carried only a few things in,"

"As long as your tooth brush is one of them," He saw Mathias pull up and he hung up his phone. He carefully went down the stairs and greeted Mathias as he got out of the car.

"Thank you, Lukas," He told him, his eyes drooping.

"It's no problem, Mathias," he yawned.

"Yes it is," Lukas pulled him into a much needed hug. After the other clung onto him for a minute, Lukas spoke up.

"Okay, let's get your stuff in and get to bed,"

"Of course," Lukas helped him carry a few bags into the untouched guest room. Mathias chose to go ahead and take in a couple of bags filled with his thrift shop clothes and a few boxes, mainly consisting of photo albums, books, and personal things like that.

Lukas began hanging up his clothes. He cringed while he took glances at his 'nonwork' clothes. They looked like Mathias made picked them from the 'free' pile at a garage sale or something. "I'm going to have to buy this guy new clothes." He muttered to himself before putting another musty flannel shirt onto a hanger and putting it with the others in the closet.

Mathias walked back into the room after putting up his things in the bathroom. "You don't need to put them up," he told him. "I have the things I need, so we can just call it a night." He jumped onto the bed and lay down. "And you didn't get any sleep before I called you back, didn't you?"

"I couldn't sleep," A simple white lie couldn't hurt, right? He didn't want Mathias to feel bad that he didn't listen to him and go to sleep.

"Right, it's not an issue, but you should get your sleep," he muttered back, stretching out across the bed. Lukas turned around to turn out the light and leave. He was in the doorway, his hand reaching up to the light switch.

"Night!" Mathias called from behind him.

"Mathias," Mathias opened his eyes and looked up at him. His hand slipped from the wall down to his side. He turned his head to glance at Mathias. "It might be weird adjusting, would you like to sleep with me tonight?" _You look like you could use some company, too._

"Oh, uh, sure," he sat up, rubbing his eyes. "That sounds nice,"

They walked to Lukas' room and Lukas switched on the light. "Bon!" Mathias jumped onto the bed and picked up the old pink bunny. "It's always so great to see you!"

Lukas fought the smile. He knew seeing he still had Bon on his bed would cheer him up even more. "Don't you need to get dressed for bed?"

Mathias expertly undid his pants and tossed it aside while still holding onto Bon. "I'm dressed!"

"I didn't need to see that," Lukas muttered, turning out the light.

"Can you help me take off my socks?" Mathias asked.

"No," He kicked off his shoes before crawling into bed next to Mathias, facing away from him.

He felt him moving around behind him, slipping his socks off himself. He laid down behind him facing towards him. He pulled the covers over them.

"Good night, Mathias," Lukas spoke softly.

"Good night, Lukas," He whispered back, shifting around under the covers. "And thanks, I love you man."

"I love you, too."

* * *

**Just a short chapter explaining a little backstory on Mathias and Lukas. That's all. Sorry for the long delay for just this.**


	6. SmoothToo Tired

**Chapter 6**

**Part I: Smooth**

* * *

November 5, 2014

Lukas finished off his cup of coffee and slid the empty mug towards the other three mugs he had used during the day. The direction of his sight laid on two people; Emil and his friend, Leon. Emil was going about his work as usual, helping Berwald clean up the rest of the tables. Leon was sitting at one of the tables, drinking a hot chocolate, just as he did every day when he came into the coffee shop.

"Hey Lukas, what are you glaring at?" Tino asked, tapping his shoulder. It was a rather ridiculous question, considering how obvious he made his displeasure. He didn't take his eyes off the two. Tino turned his attention to the mugs. "Damn, how much coffee have you been drinking? Are you okay?"

Lukas ignored the last part. "That guy has been coming in here for the last minutes we're open and making small talk with Emil."

Tino only laughed. "Oh no, Emil's made a friend. How disastrous." His volume faded when Lukas moved his glare directly at him.

"I was joking!" He yelped. "What's the problem with Leon anyway?"

"Apparently sneaks out of his home. Drank at Francis' party. Sounds like trouble to me."

"He's probably a kid who has strict parents or something and is looking to have fun." Tino put his elbows on the surface of the counter, slumping a little. "I know how that is, remember when I used to have to sneak over to hang out with you guys during high school because my parents were stuck up and thought you guys were bad for me?"

"And they were right, we are bad for you." Lukas retorted, smiling a bit.

"They think you guys turned me gay and fat."

"That's because we did."

"That's beside the point, I mean, he chose Emil to hang out with. If anything, your brother is a good kid. I think they'll stay out of trouble."

"Hm, maybe you're right." Lukas looked over at Tino. "I don't see Emil hang out with too many people. Maybe this is a good thing."

"Need anything else before we close up?" Emil spoke up towards Leon. Tino and Lukas went quiet, listening into their conversation.

"Yeah there's one thing." Lukas became uncomfortable with the smug smile now spread across Leon's face. "You."

Emil dropped the damp rag he was holding, his expression going from casual to shock. Tino managed to hold in a gasp. He turned to Lukas, expecting him to be jumping over the counter to strangle the poor guy. But instead, he remained calm.

"Lukas, uhh…" Tino was confused, but he didn't know what to ask. _Aren't you angry?_

Lukas turned toward him, completely understanding what he was questioning. "How could I be mad? That was real fucking smooth." He turned his attention back to his brother, who was still staring at Leon, confused. "I kinda like this kid."

Mathias came in from the back room. "Did I hear smooth? Because take a look at this." He pulled his pants leg up to his knee and pressed his foot up high onto the counter in between Tino and Lukas. "I shaved my legs this morning. Real fucking smooth, am I right?"

Lukas reached down and touched his leg while Tino took a few steps away from him.

He was right; his leg was real fucking smooth.

* * *

**Part II: Too Tired**

* * *

November 6, 2014

"Hey, hey! Lukas!" Lukas took his eyes off his book and to Mathias. _What's he doing out of the back room?_

"Don't you have coffee to make?" he asked.

"The coffee is made, you want some?"

"No, I don't." Lukas continued to look at him, confused.

"I thought of this amazing joke and I need to tell you it." _Great, a joke. It's far too early for this. _It's not that Lukas didn't care, but he didn't have any sleep the night before. But then again, Mathias tells awful jokes anyway.

"Go ahead."

"The bike can't stand on its own because it is two-tired." Mathias went quiet, holding in his laugh and waiting for Lukas to respond. Lukas didn't acknowledge the joke as far as to understand, but he wasn't going to admit it. Nor was he going to lie to Mathias, bad joke or not. "Do you get it, Lukas?" He simply turned back to his book in response.

"How about now?" Out of the corner of his eye, Lukas noticed Berwald had walked past them. "Hold on, hey Waldy! Let me tell you this joke!" Mathias left the counter to follow him, and Lukas felt satisfied that he managed to get away.

* * *

After the morning rush, when the clock hit noon, Lukas heard the backroom door open up. "Did you get it, Luk? Two tires? Get it?" Lukas slowly turned around and looked at him.

"You know what you should be getting?"

"To work?"

"Yes." Mathias slowly disappeared behind the door, still staring at Lukas in a joking manner.

"See you space cowboy." Lukas sighed for a long time. It's going to be a long day.

* * *

Before closing time, Lukas was shoving his book into his bag. He had forgotten about the whole joke situation when Mathias suddenly slid over to him. Not on his feet, but on his stomach. Lukas jumped back in surprise. "Mathias what the heck?"

"Do you get the joke?" He asked, ignoring Lukas' reaction. Lukas frowned largely at him and quickly put on his jacket. "I have to go." He ran out of the store quickly.

He avoided going home, since he lived with Mathias, and instead went to the dollar store to pick up something to eat. Then maybe he could get home, take a shower, and go to sleep. Mathias would probably forget about the whole thing the next day…

He felt someone behind him.

"Do you get it now, Lukas?" Lukas gasped. It was Mathias.

"Yeah, I did." He quickly opened the freezer next to him and grabbed frozen lasagna. "Just what we needed."

"Okay but-" Mathias started.

"We're running low on chips, can you get us some?" Mathias held up the bags of chips that he was holding. "I think we need some bottled water, too."

Mathias sighed like a child. "Okay _honey_, let me go get your things."

"Okay, thanks. And how about something for dessert, too?" Another loud sigh. Lukas quickly checked out and made a run for the apartment.

* * *

Meanwhile, Leon decided to tag along while Emil headed home. He couldn't just tell him no, and he thought since Lukas would be home, nothing bad would happen. Leon was smiley, of course, and even more flirty from before. Emil was unsure about how he really felt towards him; even more so after yesterday's events. He did enjoy Leon's company, and he was really pretty. There's much more that goes into a relationship though, and they had only known each other for a few days.

Emil was surprised that the apartment door was locked. Lukas always arrives there before him and leaves the door unlocked. He unlocked the door to find all the lights off and Lukas nowhere to be found. He started to panic. Lukas wouldn't be too happy to come home to him with someone over without permission.

"Want anything from the pantry?" He asked, opening it up. "Uhh… I guess we don't have any chips." He frowned sadly.

"That's fine, where's your room?" Leon was glancing around the apartment.

"Uhh… It's really messy. Sorry I didn't expect you to come over."

"That's fine, too." He jumped over the side of the couch and took a seat, crossing one leg over the other. "You have cable?"

"Yeah, and Netflix. Find something to watch. I'm going to… Go ahead and start dinner." _Perfect,_ he thought, _now Lukas would come home to a responsible little brother cooking and not looking suspicious with a total hot Chinese boy on the couch._

The house was devoid of anything but a couple of frozen pizzas. He tried to take as long as he could, but pressing a couple of buttons on the oven to make it start preheating only took a few seconds. He glanced in Leon's direction to find him looking over at him.

"Do you like The Office?" Leon asked.

"Sure." Emil smiled, trying to look casual.

"Okay, let's watch it then." Emil nodded, hiding his nervousness. So much for responsible little brother. He slowly tip-toed over to the couch, Leon waiting patiently for him. "Sit, sit."

Emil sat down, leaving a little distance between him and Leon. Leon didn't bother casually moving over, nor did he leave even an inch between them. Emil tensed up as Leon warmly smiled at him. He put a hand on his arm.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, totally." Leon turned around, picked up the remote and pressed play. The loading screen popped up and slowly began progressing. "Sorry, damn internet is slow."

"It's fine." Leon replied. Emil swore he could feel the heat of his breath. Was he getting closer? "So…"

"So…" _Shit, he is getting closer. _Their noses were about to touch, and somehow Leon managed to put an arm around him without Emil realizing it at first. He smiled nervously and leaned back away from him, but Leon only followed until he was basically on him.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Leon asked, smiling still.

"Yes, but Leon…" Emil finally let his nervousness show. "I'm sorry, Lukas wouldn't be too happy you came over without him knowing or being here, I swore he was going to be here and also you're really nice, fun and really, really attractive but you see, you're getting really close there and I don't know exactly what you want but I probably need to tell you I'm asexual. I really should have spoken up sooner but I'm just _so_ sorry." He rambled, worryingly. Leon looked at him sadly, and quickly got off of him.

"I was afraid you were going to tell me you were straight."

"Oh…" That was understandable. Emil sat up and stretched his back.

"You're… Not into guys?" He asked. "I mean, it's fine. I probably shouldn't have come onto you so strongly and asked first. Wait, did you just say I'm attractive?"

"Really, _really_ attractive." Emil smiled shyly. "I'm not, sexually that is. I just…"

"It's fine, Emil." Leon told him. "I totally respect that. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I like you, a lot. I need self-control, and I am so sorry." Emil laughed a little and scooted towards him.

"You're forgiven." He leaned over and gave Leon a tiny kiss on the cheek. Leon hand quickly moved up and held the spot that Emil had kissed.

"But…"

"I never said I didn't like you back." Leon went quiet, staring at the TV. Emil leaned over to look at him. "Are you… Doing okay?"

"Yeah, I uh," He took his hand off his cheek, his face flushed. "I'm sorry, can I give you one back?"

"Sure," Leon leaned over, eyes fluttering shut as Emil's did. He felt Leon's presence get closer to him.

The front door burst open. Emil didn't have time to react when he heard Lukas' voice. "Good you're here. Make this." Lukas ran past the couch and tossed a frozen lasagna onto his lap before running into the bathroom.

"Well, good thing I preheated the oven…" Emil sighed, laughing some. Leon left a kiss on his cheek while he was distracted. He timidly looked away afterwards. "For a boy who was coming onto me all confidently, you're pretty shy."

"I'm a good actor I guess." Leon covered his face with his hands. Emil hugged him around his shoulders, smiling.

"There, there."

* * *

Lukas took the shortest shower of his life. He basically got out as quickly as he got in. After poorly washing his hair, he wrapped his towel around his waist and stepped out.

"Hey Lukas!" With a loud scream, Lukas threw everything he could grab at Mathias, who was sitting near the sink. As he struggled to tear off the shower curtains, Mathias stood up. "Do you get the joke?"

"Do you get that bathrooms are private?" Mathias frowned and escorted himself out of the bathroom. Lukas knew he had to lock up his room when he went to bed.

* * *

Lukas fell asleep easily after looking his door and climbing into bed. Surprisingly, he didn't wake up through the lock being picked, the door opening, and Mathias Køhler climbing oven him.

"Psst, Lukas," Lukas opened his eyes looking around. He felt odd for some reason, and then he realized there were a pair of hands and feet settling beside him. He squinted to see Mathias' face looking down at him.

"How the fuck?" Lukas whispered.

"Lukas," He was smiling, _my God_ he was smiling. "Do you get my joke now?"

Lukas was terrified. Mathias was really determined about this stupid joke. But he continued to be calm; he'll give in and leave him alone eventually.

"I'm too tired for this." Mathias stared at him.

And stared…

And stared.

It took two seconds for Lukas to echo what he said in his head.

Too Tired… Two tired… Bikes have two tires. They are two-tired. The bike couldn't stand because it was too tired… Or two-tired. It was funny, because bikes couldn't stand on their own anyway.

Lukas laughed. It was the most awful joke but it really got to him. Mathias followed him around all day for him to get _that._ Amazing.

Mathias stared down at his friend in pure joy. "You get it! You get it!" They laughed together. Mathias sat down next to him and Lukas hugged him tightly, laughing himself to tears.

After the laughs died down, they went quiet.

"Mathias," Lukas finally said.

"Yes?"

"Get out of my room and never tell me another joke again."

"Okay." Mathias got off the bed. "It was nice laughing with you, man."

Lukas paused. "Yeah, that was nice."

"I'll tell you another one tomorrow. Good night."

"Night." Mathias left the room, and Lukas decided he would actually listen to whatever ridiculous joke Mathias was going to have for him the next day.

* * *

**Surprise! I told myself 'update every other week' and here I am, updating in just one. I seem to be writing a whole lot, I hope I'm not going through a random inspiration moment and this is actually something permanent. So, things coming up in this fic:**

**\- Thanksgiving featuring Mathias, Leon, and Berwald's families (separate houses, thank GOD)**

**\- Black Friday shopping featuring all the characters (except the two youngest Braginsky kids because bringing them shopping during Black Friday is irresponsible parenting)**

**\- A whole lot more SuFin and DenNor coming up in the winter set chapters**

**\- Fluffy HongIce in the mix**

**\- I have many series pieces and chapters planned, and I need more humorous ideas. I'm open to suggestions. No please, I would love to hear what you guys want to see in this AU.**

**Notes on this chapter:**

**1\. About Tino: More will come up later about his parents in his backstory chapter. He's not gay and fat, he's bisexual and chubby.**

**2\. I planned this chapter long ago while thinking about Lukas being protective over Emil when Leon comes along but then Leon being a smooth little shit and Lukas being like "Oh well can't argue with that"**

**3\. Mathias shaves his legs sometimes it makes him happy.**

**4\. I actually got the idea for "Too Tired" months ago before I even came up with the idea to write this AU. I thought about how Mathias would tell an awful jokes and follow Lukas around all day asking if he got it, and waking him up at night hovering over him, Lukas finally getting it, laughing, and then kicking him out of his room.**

**5\. Yeesss, I considered asexual!Iceland for my high school AU (in progress) but I really thought he would be better off placed in this one. I haven't decided his romantic preference. I might leave him at he doesn't know himself, but Leon sure is nice.**

**6\. I don't own Netflix, the characters, Hetalia, The Office, or any other work presented in this chapter, nor any other chapter of this series. Thanks.**


	7. Thanks I guess

**Chapter 7: Thanks I Guess**

* * *

November 27, 2014

"Thank you…" Lukas heard himself whisper as he pulled away from Mathias' shoulder. He then found himself a little bewildered.

It wasn't how close Mathias was, or the fact that his arms were around him, or even that dreaming look in his eyes; it was how young Mathias looked. He wouldn't have thought about it, but Mathias usually looked more aged. Lukas grew uncomfortable and looked down.

_Wait, when did we get here?_

"Lukas," Mathias whispered, leaning over to catch his gaze. Lukas looked up just to feel a couple of fingers press under his chin. "I love you, I always have."

Lukas felt tears start running down from his eyes. He couldn't speak, even if he tried yelling.

He felt his heart burning up.

Why couldn't he breathe?

Mathias leaned over, and their lips touched. Lukas felt air fill his chest.

"I…"

* * *

Lukas woke up, confused that Mathias had suddenly disappeared and he was in his own bedroom. It took him a few seconds to realize it was one of those vivid dreams he was prone to have a couple times a week of things that have never happened. And in some weird way, he feels as if they had, and they were almost always about Mathias.

"… Love you, too." He finished saying.

He'll have to bring them up to Tino or Matthew someday and get it off his chest. That could wait though; feelings are complicated, and he barely feels like figuring them out anyway. He'll just write this one down in his dream diary just like all the others.

Sitting up, he looked over at the time; 9:18 on Thanksgiving Day.

His family never really celebrated the holiday. They never grew too accustomed to some American 'traditions', and this included Thanksgiving. Mathias' family on the other hand, their attention was grabbed at 'feast'.

This year, like every year, Lukas will visit Mathias' family on Thanksgiving. He had become used to their rather eccentric behavior a long time ago, and he never disliked visiting the Køhlers. He was really happy about it this year because Emil was staying over at Leon's instead of home alone, and they were all meeting up with Berwald, Tino and Nathan for Black Friday shopping at the mall.

And man, he was going to get Mathias some better looking clothes finally.

Oh… Yeah… Maybe something for himself, too.

He sluggishly got out of bed and to the bathroom. To none of his surprise, there stood Mathias; attempting to do his hair and brush his teeth at the same time in nothing but socks and a pair of boxers that were way too tight. Lukas nudged him to his side of the counter and turned on the faucet to wash his face.

"Morning, Lukas," he greeted him with a mouth full of toothpaste.

"Morning Mathias," he splashed his face with the cold water. Mathias handed him the towel.

"Thanks." He muttered, wiping the dampness from his face.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Good, but enough with small talk," Lukas tossed the towel aside. "What time are we leaving to go to your parent's?"

"Hm, around 3, they like to eat early, we're staying until 6 before heading to the campsite at the mall." He spit out the toothpaste into the sink.

"Okay, are you dressing nicely this time?"

"Uhh… Sorta? Ya know you don't have to dress so formally. They're just my parents." Mathias absently brought his comb to his mouth and brushed a lock of his hair with his toothbrush. "Oh, oh shit."

"Here, hold on." Lukas grabbed the thrown away towel and ran it under the faucet. "And I like to dress nicely for occasions." He carefully cleaned the toothpaste from Mathias' hair, holding his head still by his chin.

"Your casual clothes are nice already. Wear that blue gradient sweater with dark jeans or that opaque white shirt with the long coat with the black jeans. Yeah, go with the blazer one, the black jeans go nicely with your boots, and you could wear a tie with it and not have to worry about it not matching. And it really brings out your hairpin that you always insist on wearing. I mean everything else you choose to wear always goes nicely but it really puts together a sophisticated look."

Lukas looked at him, half-glaring but impressed. When did he pay attention to Lukas' fashion choices anyway? Well, Lukas did pay more than too much attention to Mathias' atrocious closet, enough to even replace some of his raggedy clothing with new ones, in hopes he'll dress nicely sometime.

He laid the hand towel on Mathias' head. "Alright, only if I get to pick out what you wear."

"Nothing too tight." Mathias added.

"Like those boxers?" Lukas pointed down at him, Mathias pouted.

"All my other fitting pairs were dirty!"

"Someone needs to wash more."

"I washed my stuff three days ago," Mathias pointed out. "I don't have many fitting pairs."

"Thank goodness we're going shopping, then." Lukas quickly put some toothpaste on his toothbrush and shoved it in his mouth. "I need to go wake up Emil."

* * *

"Emil, Emil." With his toothbrush in his mouth. He patted his hands rapidly onto his brother's arm like it was a drum. "Your piece of shit boyfriend's going to be here after lunch, get ready before you're Ivan Braginsky."

Emil turned around, giving Lukas a confused glance with an eyebrow raised. "Braginsky?"

"_Russian._" Lukas pulled the covers off of him. "You would be _rushin_'."

"Are you sure it's _my_ boyfriend that's a piece of shit? Because Leon doesn't come up with puns like that like Mathias." Lukas frowned.

"Get out of bed."

* * *

Lukas finished getting dressed, and was straightening up his sky blue, white and silver striped tie. Mathias was right; he didn't have to worry any about a matching tie. With a snap, he set his cross pin in its usual spot in his hair.

Mathias walked into the room while struggling to figure out how to zip up his jacket. "Is this even a jacket? How do you work it?" He asked, frustrated.

"Hold on," Lukas walked over and helped him zip and button it up correctly.

"Is this whole zipper and button mess necessary for one jacket?" He asked, adjusting it some.

"Fashion is art, sometimes it's simple, sometimes it's complex. Besides, that's the only large jacket I had that suited you best and went well with that vest and shirt. I just hope your parents can recognize you looking so…"

"Sharp? They'll think you've been dressing me."

"That wouldn't be far off, considering that's exactly what just happened."

"I'm sure they'll love it. Father might tear up some." Mathias peered into the full mirror and began doing his tie.

Lukas went back to making sure his apparel was together. He noticed his black jeans had some specs of dust on it. "Can you pass the lint roller?" Mathias quickly handed over the roller and he fixed up his jeans.

He loosened the dirty, used outer wrapper and tossed it away. He then realized Mathias had some, too. "Let me get you, too." He kneeled down and ran the rolled down one of his legs.

"Hey!" Mathias jumped back from him. "That felt really weird." Lukas reached further and did it again, just for Mathias to step further away from him. "Stop that, they're fine!"

"No, come back." Lukas crawled towards him, waving the lint roller around. Mathias started to run from him. He got up on his feet to chase after him.

"Don't touch me with that! No! No! No!" He yelled as Lukas chased him around the apartment and then back to his room. Lukas tackled him onto his bed; Mathias tried kicking him back and shoving a pillow into his face.

"Sit still, now I have to redo what I already did." With a long sigh, Mathias stopped fighting lifted up one of his legs. Lukas went to work, removing the fuzz from Mathias' slacks.

"Hey Lukas, Leon's here," Emil stepped into the room, stopping to give them both a dirty look. "Well, I'm just going to go now."

"Be safe, call me if you need me." Lukas replied, dropping Mathias' leg. "Have fun." Emil was already out of the door.

"You're really easygoing now, Luke." Mathias sat up, taking the lint roller from his hand. "You used to be so aggressive over where he was and who he's with when your parents left him with you."

"He's almost out of high school now, and trustworthy. He could handle himself." He unclipped his hairpin and fixed up his hair some. "As for you, you're much more of a handful."

"That's not all the way true." Mathias sat up and fixed up the pillows. "You know I'm mature,"

"Even though you sometimes act otherwise, yeah, I do."

"That's because I'm Mathias Køhler, Lukas. Someone has to be me, or else nothing would have ended up like how they are now."

Lukas titled his head to the side. "I feel like you're tossing some sort of deep metaphor at me, and I'm not really getting it. But at the same time I am." He took a deep sigh. "I guess you mean if you weren't so ridiculous, things would be different."

"And I'm happy with how things are now."

Lukas nodded. "So am I." _He has some sort of hidden meaning under all this, I know it, _Lukas scoffed. _He's so weird._

Mathias looked over at the clock. "It's almost 3, I think we should finish getting ready now." Mathias' tone was different when he spoke.

Lukas wanted to ask, but he was right, they needed to finish getting ready.

And feelings are complicated, and he barely feels like figuring them out anyway.

* * *

Things were back to normal as Mathias drove them to his parent's house. They lived only 5 minutes away in a neighborhood. Once they pulled up, Lukas could hear the heavy metal that was being played inside.

Mathias took a deep, pleasurable sigh. "Here we go."

"You're acting like you're nervous." Lukas pointed out.

"How so? I'm fine." Lukas set his hand onto his arm.

"You're trembling."

"From excitement, let's go." Mathias held some eye contact before unlocking the door and getting out. Lukas knew he was nervous, but he had no clue why. Mathias was complicated; he wished he could figure him out.

Surely a round of beers and parents who he was close to would fix that.

Lukas rang the doorbell and stepped back. Unfortunately, Mathias' uncle Richard was the one to open the door. "Oh, it's you two."

"Hi Uncle Rick!" Mathias pulled the man into a tight hug. "It's been so long, we missed seeing you last Christmas. Hey, how's Aunt Marie? And Cousin Virginia?" He rambled, his uncle just staring back.

"Yes, now get inside, it's cold out here." Mathias stepped inside, still asking him questions about his side of the family. Lukas only glared at the guy.

He didn't like Uncle Richard. He firmly believed despite how many times he was hard on Mathias because 'his parents didn't get onto him enough' about his 'choices of friends, education, sexuality and the fact he didn't follow through with science like his parents', Mathias probably hated the guy's guts, too.

But Mathias didn't want him to think someone could get to him like that and be angry about it. And Lukas felt like he needed to follow that, too.

Lukas followed Mathias into the house and walked past Uncle Richard, who gave him the same disappointed glance. Lukas licked the corner of his lip and winked at him before taking Mathias' arm and wondering into the kitchen to find his parents.

"Mathias, Lukas! There you guys are." Adeline Køhler hugged them both and attacked their cheeks with kisses. Lukas ran a finger down his cheek to find no trace of lipstick _Huh, guess she found a good brand that didn't rub off from all the kissing she does. _"Oh, did your uncle open the door for you? Sorry, come sit, please." She was literally yelling over the music for them to hear her.

Mathias took a seat in between Mathias and his father at the large dinner table. They instantly went into conversation.

"How is living together?" Stephan Køhler asked, just loud enough for Lukas to hear, too. _Oh right,_ Lukas thought, _this is the first time we both have visited since Mathias moved in._

"It's so great, even better than staying with Gilbert. Lukas is so much cleaner."

"Ah, did he dress you, too?" Mr. Køhler's eyes went to Lukas, smiling. "You're both looking rather sharp."

"He did, and I picked out his outfit." His parents were lost with laughter. Lukas turned a little red.

"Lukas did a good job." Mr. Køhler reached behind Mathias and grabbed Lukas' shoulder. "You know what? I need to give you something." He extended his arm to the bottle of cologne that was sitting on the table in front of him. "I was getting myself some when I thought I should pick up a bottle for you, too. Just because."

Mathias took the bottle. "Wow, thanks dad!" He sprayed some on him, and then sprayed some more. Just before he sprayed again, Lukas grabbed his hand.

"Enough, you'll kill us."

"No I won't, one more spray." Lukas managed the stop Mathias from spraying it again and fought him until he finally got the bottle out of his hand.

"Mathias, it's one mist, then you're good. Or else it's overwhelming."

"But Lukas, I'm _overwhelming_. It'll only suit me." Mathias' parents laughed even more.

"Enough with your metaphors, you lost your cologne privileges." Lukas stuck the bottle into the coat pocket.

"But… But…" He sadly turned to his dad.

"You heard the man." Mr. Køhler told him, patting his shoulder before leaning over and whispering something into Mathias' ear.

Mathias whispered back to him, or talked. Either way, Lukas couldn't hear what was going on. Before he could lean over enough to hear, Mathias turned back around, barely hitting his cheek onto his. "Oh, sorry. Dad says the meal should be ready soon. Let's go see Bedstefar." Lukas nodded.

Bedstefar, Mathias's never-aging granddad that Lukas adored, was in the kitchen, cutting the ham.

"Bedstefar!" Mathias yelled. Lukas' mouth curved up into a smile. The man set down the knife and pulled them both into a hug.

"Mathias, Lukas! Velkommen!" He exclaimed in his heavy accent.

"It's great to see you again." Mathias told him.

"It's great to see ya and Lukas here. I'm sure ya both would love to get your food first, am I right?"

"Really?" Mathias jittered in excitement.

"Of course we would." Lukas responded.

"Go ahead; I'll go tell everyone the food is done."

* * *

During dinner, the music volume was finally turned down. Bedstefar Køhler told stories of his trip to Denmark over the summer, Mathias' little cousins begged their parents to bring them someday, Aunt Marie complained about the music still being too loud and didn't let it go until someone turned it off, and Mathias' 92-year-old grandmother attempted to start a food fight. There were loud, vulgar jokes thrown around, inside jokes and embarrassing moments brought up, and somehow everyone agreed that cranberry sauce may be traditional for the Thanksgiving holiday but it should never show up again next year or the year after. Except for Mathias' cousin, Alex, who ended up offering to take the rest of it home afterwards.

The early dinner was concluded when the music was turned back on, and most everyone sang along to numerous Metallica songs as the kitchen, dining table and dishes were cleaned up.

The whole family continued hanging out in the family room, drinking beer and shouting over the loud music. Lukas and Mathias sat around and took turns explaining their experience at work and living together. For at least an hour, they had the floor as they spoke about the Braginskys, losing and regaining business from Starbucks, Francis and Arthur (Lukas showed up his best impression of Arthur), Mathias brought up his awful puns, and they couldn't quite explain what exactly went down at Francis' Halloween party, but Lukas ended up telling most of it.

When Mrs. Køhler started to speak about her experience at a party a year back, Lukas checked the time. 5:34. He pulled Mathias' sleeve. "We're leaving in about 25 minutes."

Mathias nodded. "That's fine."

"I'm going to go ahead and wash up a little before we do, be right back." Lukas got up and left for the bathroom. He wasn't surprised to see a line, and was glad he didn't wait until 6 to go so they wouldn't be late.

When he got into the bathroom, he quickly washed his hands, face, and fixed his hair some. He managed to find some deodorant and reapply, and he might or might not had used the bottle of cologne that he took from Mathias. He left the bathroom and went back to the family room to not find Mathias where he left him. He looked at the time again; 5:55.

Where could he have run off to? Lukas peered awkwardly at everyone around. His parents and Bedstefar were also nowhere to be found. He walked through the kitchen and peered out the windows. _No, not there… _He walked down the hallway where their bedrooms were. He heard Mathias' voice from inside his parents' room. He couldn't quite catch what he had said before the door was opened.

"Oh, hey Lukas." He smiled. "Sorry, were you looking for me?"

"Only for a minute."

"Ah, alright." Lukas' eyes moved from him to the other three Køhlers standing behind him. They were looking intently at him. "I have something for you."

"Huh?" He was confused._ Where did this come from?_

"Close your eyes." Lukas did as he was told. He felt something cold touching his neck as well as Mathias' hands brushing across his neck. "There."

Lukas opened his eyes and looked down. An aged, golden ring hung from his neck on a thin chain. He picked it up and looked at it. Engraved into was _Beter laat dan noit._

"It says better late than never. Isn't it cool? It really matches your cross so I thought you might really like it." All four of them were smiling at him.

"I do really like it. Thank you." He looked down and ran his finger across the words. _Better late than never. _Next thing he knew, Mathias was hugging him. Lukas avoided look directly at his family behind him and hugged him back. After he was released, Mathias turned around to his parents and grandfather.

"We have to go so we don't keep Nathan waiting."

"That's alright, come back and visit soon, okay?" his mother hugged him.

"New years, as usual."

"Bring Lukas, too." Bedstefar embraced them tightly.

"As always." Mathias promised them.

On the way to the mall, Lukas lay back in his seat and played with the ring, moving it around on his finger and running his pointer across the engraved words. He carefully slid it onto his ring finger. _Hm, this looks like it fits._

* * *

It's around 11 at Berwald Oxenstierna's home. The turkey was in the oven, the corn was finished, the potato salad… It was a work in progress. It was hard for Berwald to cook and make sure the very eager two-year-old was tended to.

Peter was running around his dad's legs when the doorbell rang. He picked his son up when he left to answer the door.

"Happy Thanksgiving." His elderly mother greeted him. A smile appeared on his face.

"Happy Thanksgivin', mom." He helped her inside. Once he closed the door, he set down Peter, who ran right to her.

"Oh, he's growing so fast." She pinched one of his cheeks. "I wonder if he'll end up growing to be close to your height."

"I'm not sure." Ms. Oxenstierna ruffled the boy's hair as Berwald spoke. "He's starting to speak some."

"Really?" Berwald kneeled down by his son and pointed to her.

"Peter, who is this?"

"Grandmommy!" Peter said, excited.

"Good, who am I?"

"Papa!" The doorbell rang.

"Oh, did you invite someone else?" Berwald sat up, picking Peter up again.

"No, go ahead and set your things on the counter." He walked to the door and peeked out the glass window. It was Tino, staring directly at Berwald from behind the door and holding a small white dog.

Berwald sighed and opened the door.

"Hey… So I tried calling." Tino started.

"My phone's on silent, I've been busy." He stated.

"I thought so. I'm so sorry for coming over and basically inviting myself." Tino laughed nervously.

"What happened with your date?" Berwald asked. "And why did you bring Hana?"

"I cancelled, didn't want to go. And well, she's family to me. I can't just leave her out."

"Alright, well come in." He moved out of the way for Tino to come in.

"Who's here Berwald?" His mother called from the kitchen.

"Tino!" Peter answered.

Berwald smiled and kissed the boy's cheek. "Good job, Peter."

* * *

Tino spoke to Ms. Oxenstierna and played with Peter and Hanatamago while Berwald finished up on lunch. He set the table and took the turkey out of the oven.

"Everything's ready." He told the three, reaching down to pick Peter up to put him in his seat.

As Berwald filled Peter's plate, Tino gladly helped Ms. Oxenstierna get her food.

"Did you boys have a nice year?" She asked once everyone sat down.

"Mhm!" Tino responded with a mouth full of turkey. "Business has been going very well, despite some difficulty."

"What kinda difficulty?" She asked.

"Mathias being the one who runs it." Berwald answered.

"He's not that bad," Tino commented, Berwald giving him a look. "Okay, he can be pretty bad sometimes. He apparently followed Lukas around for a full day about some joke. Ridiculous!"

"Oh, Lukas. How is he coming along? I really like him."

"Lukas has been doing good. You know they're living together, right?" Tino told her, taking a bite of the potato salad.

"I called it!" She exclaimed, rather loudly.

"Called what?" Tino and Berwald questioned.

"Those two _are_ fucking!" Tino spit out his food and laughed.

"Mom, please, there's a two year old present." Berwald gasped. Ms. Oxenstierna took a sip of her wine and set the cup aside.

"What? He won't remember me saying that. And come on, could someone really put up with Mathias without getting some sort of benefit?"

"She has a point there." Tino added. "And it's plain as day that there is something going on between those two."

"And I rather not think about what that thing is." Berwald frowned. "And their brother lives with him, too."

"True, true."

After lunch, they moved to the family room and watched cartoons, requested by Ms. Oxenstierna. Peter smiled, laughed, and repeated the words spoken on screen while petting the sleeping dog next to him. Tino and Ms. Oxenstierna talked more about numerous things while Berwald half listened in and watched the TV.

It wasn't much but Berwald was satisfied. He was with the three people he loved most, his mother was happy, Tino wasn't forced to be with his awful parents, and his son was surrounded by family he knew would love him the way all families should love their children.

Half an hour before six, Ms. Oxenstierna and Peter had fallen asleep on the couch. Berwald woke his mother up and helped her into Berwald's room to rest.

"Are you two going to leave soon?" She asked.

"Yes, we are."

"I'll look after Peter while you're gone."

"Thanks mom, we're not going to stay long. Peter knows to come in here if he needs something. If he does a dance, that means he needs to pee."

She laughed some. "I got it."

"Can you handle it?"

"Yes, go have fun with Tino." She winked. "His birthday's coming up, too; go buy him something that would put all those boys and girls that want him to shame."

"I'll try." Berwald smiled and scratched the back of his head.

"That's my son."

Berwald came into Peter's room, where Tino was pulling the covers over him.

"You're a good dad, Berwald." Tino spoke without turning around. "Peter can't say it yet but I'm sure you're the something he's most thankful for."

"You think so?" Berwald walked towards the bed and stood next to Tino.

"Yes. Peter's going to be a great kid, I just know it." Tino told him. "I think Miss Brooke made the best decision of her life, and I think out of the five of us, you were the best possible choice to raise Peter. I'm sure Lukas would have done a good job, having Mathias and Emil to help out but Berwald, I kinda wish you raised me."

Berwald felt himself start to get emotional. He wanted to take Tino in his arms and kiss him, maybe skip Black Friday shopping just to be with him.

He turned his head, noting that he was really close to him._ I should kiss his cheek… Or maybe his head. _He thought, confidently. He leaned down. _Here goes nothing._

Tino turned his head some, Berwald instantly stepped back some. "Sorry, did I upset you?" Tino asked.

"No, not at all." He responded. "Thank you for that and um… You can leave Hana here, I'll lay out some newspapers for her."

* * *

On the way to Leon's house was quiet. Leon held tightly onto Emil's hand as he led the way. He let go of it when they were a few houses from his driveway.

"Hey Emil," Leon turned his head towards him. "Don't act nervous, my dad isn't going to kill you just… Act…"

"Casual?"

"Straight." Emil didn't reply.

"Sorry Emil, but I don't know how he'll react." Emil sighed and took his hands, stopping Leon from walking any further.

"It's okay, thanks for telling me." He gave Leon a quick kiss. Leon winked and licked his lips.

"We could still do some of that, just not in front of him."

"Got it."

Leon's dad was waiting for them at the door when they arrived. He looked a lot like Leon with brown hair, though it was longer and pulled back in a ponytail, and they had similar dark eyes.

"You're Emil?" He asked.

"Yes sir." Emil replied, nodding.

"Nice to meet you, come in." Emil nervously followed them into the house.

It was a small house, to put it in words. Well taken care of, and just big enough for several small rooms. He followed Leon down a small hallway and into his room.

"So, this is my room." Emil walked in and looked around. It was somewhat messy, with controllers on the floor and an unmade bed, but comfortable. He liked it.

Leon closed the door behind them and hugged him from behind, moving his face towards his to kiss him.

"We have to keep it down or else my brothers or sisters might hear." He whispered.

"Got it."

Leon and Emil spent hours laying on the bed and playing video games, stopping every once in a while to have a discussion or briefly cuddle without distraction.

Leon's siblings didn't know how to knock, and would just walk in suddenly. Surprisingly, none of them questioned why they would scramble away from each other when they walked in. Leon mentioned that Kiku and Mei wouldn't care but he wasn't so sure about Im Yong or Diana. Emil still wanted to be cautious.

Later in the night, they shared a bag of popcorn and ate chicken nuggets that Leon had heated up himself, but mildly burned some along the edges. Around 11, everyone else had gone to sleep, Emil and Leon decided it was time.

They left a note on Leon's pillow that said they had left early for Emil's house because Lukas wasn't feeling well. They carefully snuck out of the window and made their way towards Francis' house.

"Leon slow down," Emil called as he was basically being dragged behind.

"Oh sorry, am I going too fast?" he asked. Emil pulled him closely and planted a full, care-free kiss on his lips.

"No, I just wanted to do that." Emil stated, Leon smiled genuinely. "Thanks for having me over."

"No problem, though I prefer being over at your place."

"Even with my brother and Mathias?"

"Sure, at least we're able to do things more freely." He answered, sadly. Emil hugged him tightly.

"I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, I'm sure things would get better."

Nathan sat outside his tent in the middle of the day during Thanksgiving. Though that damn Alfred Jones had beat him to the first spot by the doors of the mall, causing him to lose his 4 year win streak of being the first one there for Black Friday, things weren't all that bad. He was cozy, wrapped in his sister's fleece blanket that was covered in bunnies, and he had a box of leftover turkey and ham that his sister had come by and left him.

There wasn't a meal to be missed, luckily. Belle simply buys it already prepared the day before and eats it with her husband and sends some over to Nathan. He was thankful for his sister, and that's all the thanksgiving he felt like he could tolerate.

And the turkey is pretty damn good this year, so that makes everything a little better.

* * *

Earlier

After Lukas sat up and made his way out of the room, Mathias instantly turned his attention towards his mother. She quickly ended her story and motioned him to come with her, along with his Bedstefar and father.

Next thing he knew, they all three had sat him down on the bed in his parents' room.

"Mathias," his father sighed. "Have you told him?"

"No." Mathias looked down, nervously.

"We're not angry with you, or even disappointed. Nothing like that, but this has been going on for over a year…"

"Two years," Mathias corrected. "Well, one year and 11 months. Two years December 29th."

"Mathias," Bedstefar grasped his attention. "You've never had an issue with going about your feelings before."

"I know, I know, but this is _Lukas_, who I'm living with currently and… Been friends with for countless years. I'm going to tell him, I swear."

"You keep saying you are." Mr. Køhler sighed. "I'm sorry, Mathias. We really should let you handle this and not intervene."

"It's fine, I need to talk to someone about these feelings. You three are the best at this. But I swear, this time, I'm going to tell Lukas I'm in love with him. I'm going to tell him right, and at the correct moment, and I'm going to make sure that moment happens."

"Don't expect everything to go perfectly, son. But I'm sure you'll do fine, maybe cry some, but if Lukas hasn't already felt the same back, he would probably fall harder than he has before."

Mathias took a deep breath and smiled. "I probably need to head back just in case Lukas is done in the bathroom."

"Wait." All attention was back on Bedstefar. "I have something." He held out his hand to Lukas. When Mathias opened up his, a ring was placed in his hand. He looked closely at it.

"Beter laat dan noit… Better late than never?"

"Yes, fitting isn't it? I just happened to find it in your grandmother's old jewelry stash. Keep it for yourself or put it on Lukas, doesn't matter to me. I just thought you might like it."

"I do." Mathias stared at it for a second. "I… Mom do you have a chain to put it on?"

"Oh sure, let me go get one." Mathias looked down at the ring again._ I have big plans for this ring_, he thought to himself.

* * *

**Bedstefar = Grandfather in Danish**

**I thought about writing a Black Friday chapter, but I'm just not feeling it.**

**Anyway, here are some notes on the chapter:**

**Nathan takes extreme measures and literally sets up his spot in line during Thanksgiving to get into the mall first when it opens up on Friday.**

**And he's gotten away with it for over four years.**

**I changed Peter's age to 2 to correspond better with the flow for this chapter and for reasons that has to do with future chapters.**

**I can't say much about Lukas and Mathias. Everything will make sense eventually.**

* * *

**Happy Thanksgiving, though I hate this holiday. I can't believe I even wrote a chapter with the theme being 'thanks' 'giving'. Many apologies.  
**

**But I hope you all, those who celebrate it or are forced to and those who don't celebrate it or never even heard of it, had a lovely day anyway. **

**And for those who don't know, it's a day 'to give thanks for the stuff we have' or so they tell us. It really actually started with genocide but I don't want to stop a parade or anything.**

**Just kidding, I was totally watching it in hopes protesters would show up.**

****Seriously, I hate this holiday and I'm not happy with America, my home, at the moment.  
****


	8. Flyer

Køhler's Koffee – Your Local Coffee Shop

11865 Windgate Avenue  
Brookdon, WA 20064  
Phone: 202-491-6670  
KohlersKoffee

We serve homemade coffee, produced freshly and with plenty of love in traditional mugs. We provide numerous types of creams and sweeteners; pick your favorites or try something new! No specific request is denied, so don't be shy!

We also offer a variety of donuts, muffins, cookies, rolls, buns and pies by the slice. Seasonal treats provided by our good friend, Francis Bonnefoy of Bonnefoy's Baked Goods, located right next to our establishment.

Our shop has free Wi-Fi and air conditioning. Enjoy.

Every day, we offer special deals. Some days, you can get 10% off by saying 'please' in Danish.

Our workers are very well mannered; just don't feed them after midnight. The Finnish one is off Fridays, if you're interested.

Open Hours

Monday, Wednesdays, &amp; Thursdays – 5 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Fridays &amp; Tuesdays – Closed

Saturdays &amp; Sundays – 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.

F.A.Q.

Q: Who came up with Køhler's Koffee?  
A: Mathias Køhler

Q: Who makes the coffee?  
A: Mathias Køhler

Q: Who writes the rules?  
A: Mathias Køhler

Q: Why is there a crack in this table?  
A: Mathias Køhler

Q: What makes your coffee so special?  
A: Mathias Køhler

Q: Why are you guys all blond?  
A: Coincidence, maybe.

Q: Can you tell me a joke?  
A: Sure, a fish ran into a wall. Dam!

Submit your questions to our email: KohlersKoffee

We offer furniture advice on weekdays only.

Rules for Employees (and the Employer)

1\. Pets, weapons, fireworks, air horns, crocs, paperclips, and smoking are prohibited during open hours.

2\. Wash your damn hands

3\. Keep your damn hands washed

4\. Employees must be well-groomed and smell decently when working.

5\. Employees have access to coffee anytime they want, but they still have to pay, with the exception of employee of the month.

6\. No getting coffee when customers are in need of assistance.

7\. Food products less than 2 days old are off limits until after hours.

8\. Food products more than 4 days old are free for employees.

9\. No moonwalking unless you know how to do it.

10\. Touching Tino without good intentions is completely prohibited.

11\. All employees are required to participate in Leif Erikson Day (October 9th) no exceptions.

12\. Any attempt at starting a musical during hours would be suspended for three days.

13\. Did you wash your hands? Go do that.

* * *

**So I've been having serious writer's block along with just being busy. This is probably the second or third thing I wrote for this work, after Starbucks and Average Mornings, and was originally going to be the opening to the first chapter but here I am using it as the eighth.**

**I have started working on the next main story chapter, which I'll add as soon as it's ready.  
**


	9. When It's Gone Away

**Chapter 9: When It's Gone Away**

* * *

November, 2014

_Something's starting today.  
Where did he go? Why you wanted to be?  
Well you know, November has come  
When it's gone away…_

Gorillaz – _November Has Come_

* * *

11:23p.m., November 27

_Knock, knock._ As soon as the front door of Francis Bonnefoy's house slung open, a bag was tossed into Leon's arms.

"There you kids are," The Frenchman laughed. "Not too late, but you kept me waiting."

"We told you we were going to come as soon as we can." Emil brought up. "At least Nathan has been keeping our spot in line."

"That's true." Francis sighed as he walked past, ruffling Emil's hair, and heading to the car door. "Oh how this holiday is shit, Arthur…" He turned around, eying the door. "Arthur!" He called again. Leon and Emil glanced over at the door as Arthur Kirkland peeked out back at them from inside the house.

"I'm not going." He muttered, taking a sip from the beige-colored mug in his hands. "I already told you."

"But Arthur!"

"No!" Francis had gone quiet after Arthur's stern reply. He took a couple of slow, weak steps towards them before dramatically throwing himself onto the ground. The others watched as Francis pressed his face to the ground and started loudly fake crying.

"But Arthur! You were already going to stay home alone today. I can't just leave you alllll alone again. I'll even buy something for you! Come on! Think of the kids. Emil and Leon came out to have a good time and they're going to be sad if you don't come with us." Arthur looked over at Leon and Emil, who stared blankly back at him, as confused as he was. "I'm sure the rest would be just so devastated."

"You…" Arthur shouted, shutting him up. "Need more employees." He grumbled as he walked back into the house. A few seconds later, he came back out wearing his jacket. Francis rose up and jumped with joy.

"I expect you to bring me home." Arthur told him as they got in the front seat.

"Will do!"

* * *

6:03a.m., November 28

Lukas woke up early Friday morning, tangled up in his blanket and his necklace chain in his mouth. Due to the severe discomfort of sleeping in a tent instead of his own bed, he had managed to wake up several times to fluff out his pillow or find someone to rest his head on that would give him more relaxation. Arthur Kirkland, who was passed out since midnight, still slept under Lukas when he had gotten up along with everyone else except Mathias and Nathan.

The tent entrance was zipped open and Lukas could make out the figures of the two. He stretched his arms out and slowly crawled towards them.

"Oh, you're up." Mathias scooted away from Nathan to make room for Lukas to sit down. He settled down close in between them and stole part of Mathias' blanket to shield himself from the cold air.

"What time is it?" He asked, yawning.

"6 in the morning." Nathan answered.

"The mall doesn't open until 9." Lukas sighed. "How many people are here?"

"Tons."

"Tons?"

"There's no more room on the sidewalk for more people." Mathias laughed. "Thank goodness we got here first."

"Well, almost first." All three pairs of eyes laid on the tent in front of them.

"Damn Alfred Jones." Lukas grumbled.

* * *

9:07a.m., November 28

Nathan and Mathias had run off to go look at shoes while Lukas dug through a table of new shirts that were 70% off. He made sure to fold each shirt that he had picked up before setting them back down. The Macy's employee next to him already look like they were about to cry as they picked up each abandoned, unfolded shirt left behind by snatchy customers and he didn't want to cause them a breakdown.

Under the pile of unfolded clothes, Lukas spotted an attractive turquoise shirt. As he grabbed one sleeve, the guy in front of him grabbed the other. Looking up, Lukas caught his glance.

"Let go." Lukas demanded, holding straight-faced eye contact with the other.

"I don't think so." The other grinned, tugging the cloth away from him but Lukas stood his ground.

"Listen," Lukas started, gasping and looking away when a hand was placed onto his shoulder.

"Lukas," Mathias was next to him now, holding up a pair of shoes. "Don't these look nice?"

"Not now, you idiot." Lukas growled as the shirt sleeve was jerked from his clutch. "_Shit_!" He screamed.

"Oh, oh!" Mathias pulled the shoes away from him. "I'm sorry Lukas, I didn't know I was interrupting something."

Lukas took a deep breath, turning to him. "It's okay, Mathias. It was just a shirt."

"Yeah, I'm sure you can find a better teal shirt like that one somewhere else."

"_Turquoise_." The man called, flaunting the top almost mockingly. "This is a turquoise shirt, you idiot." Lukas was on top of the guy within seconds, aggressively grabbing two handfuls of hair before being pulled off and escorted out of the store by cops.

* * *

10:56a.m., November 28

After almost two hours of fighting through the crowds, all Lukas had was 3 and a half shirts, an incredibly ugly turtleneck sweater, fluffy slippers, a few hair strands from the man he attacked in Macy's, and a shitty "how to draw manga" book that he found the idea, at the time, of wrapping it up and giving to Emil for Christmas amusing.

It even had detailed instructions on how to draw 'baras', whom Lukas knew in his heart that Emil would love to know how to draw.

Mathias ended up with furred boots, a stick of salami, a skirt, a sketchbook and a bottle of rum. He appeared happy about his findings and bragged about them when they ran into Berwald and Tino.

They found a spot in the crowded food court next to Subway for a break. Berwald kept something hidden under his shirt, and before Mathias can try questioning it, Tino's constant attempt to snatch it from him told them it was probably his birthday present.

"So, what have you guys found so far?" Lukas asked.

"I got a new phone case, a scarf and Kindle for my mother for Christmas, and a few things for Peter."

"And whatever is under your jacket." Tino grumbled, glaring at Berwald. "I got a few beanies, a stuffed bear, a tiny Christmas sweater for Hana, and a biker jacket."

"By a few beanies, he means five." Berwald added.

"It was a special sale!" Tino snapped. "Do you want one?" Berwald looked over at him, giving him a disapproving look before smiling slightly.

"Yeah, sure." He answered. Tino dug through his bag and pulled out a dark blue one and stuck it onto Berwald's head. Part of his bangs were under the beanie, but the rest stuck out wildly from under the fabric.

"You might want to adjust that some." Mathias laughed. Tino took a black one out and tossed it to him.

"You can have one, too."

"Wow, thanks!"

He tosses a light grey and white striped one to Lukas. "You, too."

"Thanks Tino." Lukas said, putting on the hat.

"The last two are for me and Hana." He announced, taking out another and putting it on himself.

"Wouldn't it be too big?" Mathias asked. Tino pulled out a very small beanie and waved it around some. "Oh."

* * *

1:02p.m., November 28

Tired, Lukas decided to call it quits. Mathias was starting to get a little pouty, but Emil and Leon were still full of energy and being indecisive about what games to buy for their new 3Ds'.

"I think I have enough for Super Smash Brothers and Animal Crossing."

"Yeah, and then we can both play if I get Smash, too."

"But then again, I've been dying to play Fire Emblem…"

"Holy shit, Emil," Lukas muttered under his breath. "Just choose."

"Maybe if I find one of them used…"

"How about I just chip in?" Mathias offered.

"I can't make you do that." Emil complained.

"Yes, you can." Mathias sighed. "I just want to get home,"

After purchasing the games, the four pushed through the crowds to get to Mathias' car. They succeeded in shoving as much as they could in the back and the rest crowded Leon and Emil in the back seat.

It took them about an hour to drive all the way back to the apartment.

* * *

4:17p.m., November 28

Lukas woke up laying uncomfortably on the couch with a blanket lazily thrown over his face and just missing his freezing, bare feet. Lukas curled up attempting to get at ease and his feet warm. He must have fallen asleep when he arrived home. He hoped Mathias and/or Emil had the decency to unpack everything without him.

He felt an unfamiliar sensation on his neck and his hand involuntarily went to scratch at it.

Oh right, he was still wearing the necklace Mathias gave him the day before. Lukas trailed his finger down the chain and found the ring. He felt along the words engraved into the front.

"Beter laat dan noit." _Better late than never_, he translated in his head after speaking the words aloud. He wondered if it had any deeper meaning to it, maybe a hint.

Of course it did, Lukas wasn't stupid.

His mind wondered what it could possibly mean to him. He thought of his dreams of Mathias. He wondered if he should tell him. He wondered if he should take a step back and think about what they could possibly mean to him.

But feelings were complicated. He wasn't new to them or anything, though. He's had a couple past committed relationships, and they all started out the same. Friendship, close friendship, relationship. Never 'love at first site', he never dated someone he barely knew.

Emil told him he was demisexual, and maybe demiromantic, too. He explained to Lukas it meant he was only attracted to someone he deeply connected to. He shared the bisexuality/romantic identity with Tino, who was okay with dating people he didn't know for a while, until Emil made him realize that there was a difference with their preferences.

Demisexual and demiromantic or not, Lukas never thought Mathias would ever be someone he would fall for. Since the dreams became more frequent and Mathias had moved in, he had a harder time about it.

And his stuff could still be in the car, too.

Lukas sat up and pulled the blanket it off of him. He then noticed it was the same blanket Mathias had when they were camping out by the mall. He also noticed his bedroom light was on. He got up and dragged the blanket down behind him as he trailed into the room. Laying next to his overnight and shopping bags was Mathias, snoring away on his bed still in his shoes and jacket.

Lukas grabbed the shirts, hung them up, threw the slippers by his bed, the book and bag of dvds and new video games was placed on the floor by the slippers along with his overnight bag from the night before. He laid the blanket across Mathias as he sat next to him.

_Sometimes I forget how so much more matured looking his is now compared to when we were in high school_, he thought. He absentmindedly placed his hand on Mathias' cheek. He paused for a moment, but went ahead and moved his thumb on the lower side of his face.

His cheek was warm, and nice. Lukas couldn't make sense that a cheek would be nice.

But it was Mathias cheek.

He frowned. How stupidly sappy.

Lukas just hoped he wasn't going to wake up.

His hand dropped to his shoulder, his eyes wondered elsewhere to his arms and back up to his face. The high school jock look wasn't something he had eyes for or ever really thought of as attractive but there was something else about Mathias.

"It's because I know you." Lukas whispered. Mathias stopped snoring and sluggishly opened his eyes.

"What was that?" He asked, blending his words a little due to his tired state, but Lukas could still understand.

"Nothing important," He responded.

Mathias shifted his eyes over to Lukas' hand that was resting on his shoulder, then back to Lukas. "How long was I asleep?"

"I don't know, I just woke up, too."

"I figured. You passed out right when we got back." Mathias looked around. "I brought your stuff in."

"I know, thanks."

Mathias smiled at him, relaxing again and pulling the blanket up to his shoulders. Lukas slowly pulled his hand away from him.

Mathias felt the need to reach out and stop him.

"I'm going to check on Emil and Leon." Lukas spoke up, sliding off the bed.

"Alright." He answered back.

* * *

November 29

Business was back up again the next day as usual, though Mathias had granted permission to wear beanies from now on. Berwald brought Peter to work, making the excuse that he was tired of leaving him home with a babysitter and wanted to be around the boy more now that he was getting older.

Mathias was hesitant at first, but agreed as long as Peter didn't get in a way of anything. Which, despite getting pouty with Tino trying to hold him for prolonged periods of time when he wanted to watch his dad clean, he was behaved and customers absolutely loved him.

* * *

November 30

Mathias decided it was about time to start setting up for Christmas. Everyone arrived two hours before they opened to help. Nathan and Berwald set up the lights inside and outside, Tino brought out the winter themed mugs, napkin holders, and tiny Christmas trees that replaced their normal table attire, and Mathias set up the winter coffee menu and decorated the counter, with some help from Peter. Lukas and Emil had tree duty, but everyone helped decorate the tree after it was set up as usual.

After they opened, Arthur came by with boxes of Francis' seasonal goods, and at the same time, Alfred Jones came in for some other reason. At first, Alfred wanted to help set up the last pastries in the window, but he dropped two cupcakes and Arthur declared he lost his pastry privileges.

After Arthur left and Alfred purchased a peppermint shortcake, ate it and left crumbs on the floor, he brought up a lovely idea. Since his store and Mathias' sold the same things, they could arrange their hours differently, bring more business without competing at the same time, and give themselves more time off.

Alfred had grabbed Emil and Lukas' attention, made Berwald stop what he was doing, Tino quickly turned and looked at Mathias with eagerness and surprise, and Peter appeared confused on why everyone suddenly went quiet.

Mathias said he would consider it.


	10. Realization

**Chapter 10: Realization**

* * *

December 2, 2014

Lukas would have doubted any degree of procrastination would fall directly on him the day he was off of work and free to do what he pleased, which would usually consist of housework and Netflix. That Tuesday happened to be the last day off before Tino's birthday party (or the day Tino has an excuse to assemble everyone and drink to his heart's desire.) If meeting up with Berwald and Tino during Black Friday shopping hadn't reminded him, the said procrastination that had fallen onto him that morning at about 9:30 a.m. would have. But Lukas was smart and avoided that sense of fear relating to forgetting one of his dearest friends' birthdays and had gotten him a gift already. Mathias, though, had succeeded to forget about it until, Lukas assumed, that morning.

It wasn't like it was the first time Lukas had woken up to Mathias crashing onto him from above, screaming nonsense until he either demanded him to be silent or by pushing Mathias off of him and leaving the room. But this time, Lukas knew exactly what he was fretting about as soon as he heard the words 'Tino' and 'Birthday'. He stayed silent as Mathias shook his shoulders, and when he calmed down some, Lukas sat up and assured his roommate that he had been awake and he has been, for the past minute of being attacked, ready to hear what Mathias needed to say.

"I don't know what to get him." Mathias spoke, actually in words.

"Tino's easy to shop for," Lukas told him, yawning. "He always talks about things he wants in detail, too. I got him a new PS3 controller and a lollipop, and Berwald got him a blanket. He says he's been having issues with his TV, and he likes knives and shit for some reason." As he spoke, Mathias continued to give him a helpless look. "You have been friends with Tino for as long as I have, and this isn't even the first time you had to buy a gift for him."

"But Lukas," he pouted. "I need you to come with me." Lukas sighed as Mathias waited for a reply. He sighed again and frowned at him.

"I have chores to do."

"I'll do them after we get back." The suggestion was rash, Lukas felt like he didn't put much thought into it, but his face was in determination and he showed no sign of regretting his negotiation.

"All of them?"

"Clean the bedrooms, wash all the sheets, sweep the kitchen and bathroom, dust and vacuum, throw out left-overs, take out the trash, do the dishes, cook dinner, and clean up afterwards."

Lukas' eyes widen by the fact Mathias had named off his to-do list and then some. _He probably had thought his last minute shopping plan a little better than I thought_, he told himself, _and I can't just pass up on the opportunity to take the rest of the day to relax instead of doing chores._

"Okay, I'll come shopping with you."

Lukas expected Mathias to want to drive all the way to Seattle, but he surprised him when he said he wanted to walk to the Brookdon Mall instead. Even on foot, walking to the mall would take less time than driving to the closest mall in Seattle, but Mathias otherwise had no excuse to not want to take an extra few minutes to drive there. Lukas didn't feel the need to question it.

The snow had stopped falling by early that morning, leaving the skies clear and a fresh layer of flakes on the ground. As Lukas followed Mathias out the front door, he found himself happy he was going for a walk instead of being driven.

The two stepped onto the pavement and began walking out of the apartment area. The streets were quiet other than the couple of cars slowly driving by or the very few others walking nearby, either to work or just being out like Mathias and Lukas were.

As they walked, Lukas gazed up at Mathias, noticing he was breathing out of his mouth to purposely see his breath show up for a brief second in the cold air. He would breathe out, and smile as if he was a child experiencing the trick for the first time. It was so childish and Mathias-like that he couldn't look away.

Mathias took notice of him staring and looked back at him. "What?"

"Nothing," Lukas felt one corner of his lips pull up into a small smile. He looked away, grinning even bigger. Mathias laughed some.

"Seriously, what?" He asked in a joking manner. Lukas forced a frown at him; Mathias leaned over and breathed in his face.

"Stop that," Lukas pushed him away, a huge smile took the place of his forced grin. Mathias pushed back, amused. They spent the next few seconds slapping each others' hands away before realizing, though there were only a few people around, they looked like dorks fighting out in the open.

"So," Lukas changed the subject soon after. "At least you didn't wait until the day before."

"Yeah," Mathias scratched his head. "And it was a good opportunity…" He was interrupted by Lukas' phone ringing. He stayed silent as he removed it from his pocket and looked at the lit-up screen.

_1 new message: Banana with Attitude_

"It's Tino," Lukas told him, opening the message.

"Probably about his party." Mathias suggested. "Or he wants to hang out."

From: Banana with Attitude

_Hey are you busy_

"Yeah, he probably wants to hang out."

"That's too bad,"

To: Banana with Attitude

_Yes, why?_

His phone went off again, not even a full minute after it was put away.

From: Banana with Attitude

_Drop your plans_

"He wants me to cancel my plans." Lukas uttered.

"Tell him no." Mathias sighed, hiding his hands in the front pocket of his jacket.

To: Banana with Attitude

_No_

From: Banana with Attitude

_Do it_

To: Banana with Attitude

_If you know what's good for you then I would suggest not making me drop my plans. I'm with Mathias, and we're shopping._

From: Banana with Attitude

_Boo you whore_

To: Banana with Attitude

_Boo to you too, sweet cheeks. Now can you tell me what's up?_

From: Banana with Attitude

_I need to talk to you. It's urgent._

To: Banana with Attitude

_You're starting to use periods. That urgent? I'm sorry but we're either going to have to postpone this meeting or you could text me about it._

From: Banana with Attitude

_Boo!_

To: Banana with Attitude

_Is Berwald busy? Can't you talk to him?_

Lukas watched as the message sent, thinking. Tino would always go to Berwald about his problems. Unless, that is, it was about Berwald. Lukas felt both worried and excited.

From: Banana with Attitude

_No…_

_Bingo_, Lukas thought.

To: Banana with Attitude

_Can you handle yourself for just a few more hours? I'll call you when I get home._

From: Banana with Attitude

_Thanks Lukas!  
_

Lukas put his phone away, wondering about what Tino needed to talk about. Did Berwald do something? Was Tino concerned about him? Did he finally realize he has a slight drinking problem? _Does he finally realize Berwald has liked him for ages? _Lukas could only hope, as he has since he noticed it was going on. And he could only hope Tino shared the feeling mutually, but that wasn't any of his business.

"What's up with Tino?" Mathias asked, gaining Lukas' focus instead of his thoughts about Berwald and Tino.

"I don't know, he said he needs to talk about something and he won't go to Berwald about it." Mathias gave him a wary, confused glance.

"Do you think it's about Berwald?"

"Of course, that's the only reason he would go to me first about something." Lukas shrugged. "Realization has probably hit him, it's about time."

"What do you mean?"

Lukas turned his head and looked straight at Mathias. "You know what I mean."

Mathias thought for a second, then shook his head. "Have you guys been keeping a secret from Tino? And me? Seriously, I'm really lost here."

Lukas grabbed his shoulder, pulling Mathias down to his height. "Did you not realize how Berwald has been completely captivated with Tino for the past year or so? Because I sure have." Mathias eyes widen as he held in a gasp, Lukas sighed angrily. "Mathias, really? You didn't notice?"

"I had no idea," Mathias rubbed his chin. "I didn't think Berwald was interested in others that way. I mean, he only shows interest in weird soups and his mom."

Lukas frowned again. "You know how Berwald does those computer repairs sometimes?"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"When you got that virus, how much did he make you pay?"

"50 dollars."

"Berwald removed the viruses on Tino's computer, organized his documents, and backed everything up for free."

Mathias nearly screamed. "Berwald's head over heels for Tino!"

The two journeyed to the Frozen Zone entrance to the mall. Mathias would usually get ice cream upon entering, but since the shop started offering coffee, he felt the need to taste it.

"One caramel latte, please!" He told the lady, smiling kindly.

The lady at the counter turned to Lukas. "And for you?"

"A regular, with mint, please." He answered. She prepared their coffees and they paid, exiting the shop soon after. Lukas blew on his coffee, taking a test sip. It wasn't bad, just different than he was used to. The flavor wasn't as explicit as Mathias' coffee he drank almost every morning, and he never quite liked the packaging compared to mugs…

Mathias laid a hand onto the wrist of the hand Lukas had his coffee in, bringing it up to his mouth and taking a sip. "I like that mint." Lukas slowly took his cup away from him.

"Ask next time."

"Sorry, you want a sip of mine?" Lukas lifted his hands up to take the cup from him, but Mathias held the drink near his face, bringing the opening to his mouth. Lukas reached up, putting his hands around the curves of the cup and tipping it up. His left hand covered Mathias and as he took a drink. He tried avoiding Mathias' eye contact with him. Mathias kept his eyes on him, smiling. Lukas felt his hand start to shake some as it touched Mathias'. He could feel his face burn up.

Instead of focusing on his suddenly conflicting reactions, he paid attention to the latte. Like the mint coffee, the caramel latte didn't have the same thrill as Mathias' made coffees had. He started to question if maybe Mathias just catered towards his milk/sugar preferences or maybe they just lacked flavored.

Lukas slowly pushed the coffee away from him, swallowing. Mathias was still looking at him, waiting for a response.

"You're blushing." Mathias pointed out, laughing subtly. Lukas felt himself heat up more from the comment.

"I…" Lukas looked down, not knowing how to explain himself and not knowing why he why he was reacting that way over simple hand touching in the first place. "I think I can take a drink by myself,"

"Sorry," Mathias laughed. "What are some things Tino needs or wants? We could probably knock this out in a few minutes." Lukas thought back to his counter-conversations with Tino for the past month as they began walking through the mall.

"Probably, there are several movies he told me about last week that he wants to see…"

"That sounds good enough-"

"And he wants more flannel shirts…"

"No, that's my thing! I'm not going to encourage him to take-"

"And there was that one thing about pocket knives…"

"Movies, Lukas, let's get movies."

* * *

"_A Christmas Carol, It's a Wonderful Life, Airplane!_..." Lukas began naming as Mathias stood next to him, examining the piles of movies in front of them. "_To Kill a Mockingbird, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Help, The Great Gatsby…_" Mathias continued to stare at the movies. "Come on, just grab a few and let's go." He grumbled.

"I know, but I also want to get him one of those weird movies." Mathias told him.

"Like what?" Lukas glanced over the movies.

"Like this." He picked up a movie labeled 'The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra'. "This one is a classic."

"I think we should tell him how amazing it is." Lukas took the movie from his hands. "This is perfect."

Mathias picked up a few movies that Lukas had suggested and went to check out. After that, they agreed on where to eat for lunch and left the store.

The purchased a couple of sandwiches from the food court and sat down at a table. The food court-and mall in general-wasn't at all crowded so they could hear the music from the radio. Lukas sat comfortably in his seat and ate his sandwich slowly while Mathias finished his a little too fast.

"Anywhere you want to go before he head home?" Mathias asked after swallowing his food.

"I don't believe I have any more shopping to do but…" Lukas looked at him with a serious expression. "I think you can use some more clothes."

"What's with you and my clothes?" Mathias droned. "I have plenty of clothes, you know!"

"Unzip your jacket." Mathias shook his head in response; Lukas set his sandwich down, leaning across the table some. "Mathias, unzip your jacket." Mathias irately undid the zipper of his jacket, revealing a faded t-shirt underneath.

"Where did you get that shirt?"

"Uhhh…"

"Thrift shop?"

"…"

Lukas sighed. "You could at least look for better quality things."

"It's not that bad," Mathias removed the jacket, showing the rest of the shirt. "Cheap, comfortable, and good quality." He picked up his drink and took a sip, eyeing Lukas some. "I'm starting to think you just want to dress me up."

"It's not that…"

"Really, Lukas? I see you wear shirts like these, you know."

"To bed."

"If I agree to get new clothes, will you admit it?"

Lukas thought for a minute. "Sure." He looked away, avoiding Mathias' pleased grin.

"I get to choose the store, though."

"Fine."

After throwing away their trash, Mathias and Lukas headed to Threads. Lukas wasn't too fond of the store besides being able to dig out a shirt or two for a good price, and their jeans suited him well, though he would rather shop at a bigger store in Seattle for those. Inside, Mathias went straight to the clearance section. Lukas followed him and picked up a few striped shirts.

"I don't like stripes." Mathias spoke, pointing at the shirts. Lukas shrugged. "I'm kinda in charge here; you can at least try them on."

"Okay, fine." Lukas continued to look throw shirts, not noticing Mathias had walked off. He was searching for a size large when a solid white peplum was tossed in front of him.

"I think you should try this on." He didn't have to look at Mathias to know he was holding in a laugh. He could hear it in his voice.

"Find me a tank top." He muttered, throwing the blouse over his shoulder and continuing to search through shirts.

"Huh?"

"This shirt is translucent; I need something to wear under it."

"Oh." Mathias left Lukas again and came back with a tank top, giving it to him and taking the clothes picked out for him to try on. He was escorted to the dressing room and left to search through Lukas' choices. Some were plain shirts with sleeves that reaches the elbow and consisting of plaid or striped patterns. Lukas didn't stay with the usual red color scheme that he usually chose when it came to him, but with more grays and whites in the collections.

Mathias tried on the plain shirts, and liking how most had fit, set them in separate piles. Next, he tried on ones with stripes. When he looked in the mirror, he realized they weren't as bad looking as he thought. "Hmm." He muttered to himself. "I should ask Lukas to go clothes shopping with him more often."

"Hey," Lukas called from the other side, knocking on the door to the dressing room. "I've been out here in this peplum for over a minute, you know."

"Oh!" Mathias replied, looking away from the mirror. He slightly opened the door and looked at Lukas.

Even with a shirt that was see-through enough to see the tank top underneath, Lukas still managed to look casual in it. This wasn't much of a surprise for him; of course, Lukas had worn dresses in plays when he was into acting in high school and would look casual in them nevertheless. He just wanted to see if Lukas would be willing to try dressing feminine as an adult, never mind looking great and confident while doing it.

"What? Does it look funny?" Lukas looked down, messing with bottom part of the blouse.

"No, I just couldn't do that myself."

"Not with that attitude."

"I don't think I would look good in women's clothes."

"Mathias. This shirt is on me. I'm a man. It's a man's shirt now." Lukas looked down and observed it. "And no, I don't think a peplum would suit your size… We can probably try a sweater, though."

* * *

Early that afternoon, Mathias and Lukas walked home with five shirts, three sweaters, three long-sleeved shirts, and a peplum.

Lukas unlocked the apartment door, entered, and set his bags on the table. Emil was nowhere to be seen. He pulled out his phone and checked the time, confirming that it wasn't yet 4, the time when Emil usually got home from school.

Mathias set his bags down and stretched out his arms. "Don't get comfortable, you have chores to do."

"I know, I do." Mathias stopped stretching and put his hands on his side. "I guess I'll start with these bags."

"I'll take care of them." Lukas reached to grab one; Mathias put his hand in the way.

"No."

"Yes," Lukas slapped his hand away.

"No." He didn't quite expect himself to be lifted into the air and be slung into Mathias arms. After he flailed about midair as two hands grabbed his sides, and almost cussing impulsively, he realized what had happened and he was looking straight up at him. Mathias was holding him-bridal style.

"Put me down." Lukas commanded, his face pressed against the front of Mathias' jacket. He could smell the cologne he had gotten from his dad that last Thanksgiving, and he was glad he didn't pile it on as he usually did.

"Okay." Mathias ran to Lukas' room, kicking the door open and tossing him onto his bed. "There."

Lukas didn't move from the spot and position he had landed in. "Thanks."

He lay in the bed afterwards, resting his head on the pillow as Mathias left the room, came back in, cut the tags from his new shirts he had gotten, hung them up and left him again.

He finally had free time that day, and he realized then he didn't quite know what he wanted to do. Watch Netflix as usual? Find some DIY online? Find something to eat and play on the internet? He began to doze, thinking about them.

He abruptly remembered him and Tino's text conversation from that morning. He jolted awake and quickly pulled out his phone. Tino hadn't sent him a text after that, to which he could assume he was being patient. He dialed his number and pressed his phone to his ear.

"Hey," Tino greeted when he picked up.

"Hey," Lukas shifted around to get comfortable on the bed. "Are you able to talk now?"

"Yeah, hold on." Over the receiver, he heard footsteps and what he assumed as Tino sitting onto a bed or couch. "Okay, now are you able to talk?"

"Yeah," Lukas agreed. This was the first time him and Tino were about to have a conversation privately in a long time, usually things would get personal. Lukas quickly got up and closed his door, lying back on his bed. "Alright, what's up?"

"I don't think you're ready for this, I don't think I am myself."

"You said it was urgent. And you know I'm not going to react badly."

"I know, I know. But this is crucial and would probably affect _all of us_." Tino spoke, in a serious tone. "And by all of us, I mean everyone we work with, too. Mathias, Emil, Nathan, _Berwald_." His voice got louder when he mentioned Berwald. "I am so sorry."

"Just tell me what it is."

"How do I tell Berwald I like him without fucking up our friendship and our casual work environment and relations with everyone else?"

Lukas knew all of this was probably spurted out. Tino had probably planned this conversation beforehand, and when he spoke that reply, he probably decided he didn't want to explain it in that manner. He more than likely wanted to say 'Lukas, I have a crush on Berwald and I don't know how to go about it.' Lukas understood his worries completely, of course, and honesty. He was even thinking his feelings through and was concerned with the atmosphere they had at the coffee shop and was, not considering, but _planning_ on telling Berwald how he felt.

Lukas thought of how he was thinking over his feelings for Mathias. He had the same worries as Tino, though he never once considered telling him, or anyone for that matter. He kept his feelings locked deeply in him, and wasn't until then that realization had hit him.

He was admitting to himself that he had romantic feelings for his best friend, roommate, and boss. But it wasn't the time for that; he had things to discuss with Tino.

"What casual work environment?" He asked. "You mean the place we go to everyday that our boss tried eating a spoonful of cinnamon and ended up coughing it out and choking in front of our customers? I think we can handle you and Berwald dating."

"Yeah but… I don't know Lukas."

"I understand."

"I've thought about it for a long while, too. Berwald's really different from most of the people I've dated in the past. Not that they were bad or anything, I mean I've just known Berwald for a really, really long time and I still want to be the way him and I are right now. And he has a kid, too!"

"You already act like Peter's parent, Tino. And you aren't technically going to declare partial ownership of the kid by asking Berwald out. I'm sure at this point if you guys dated, it wouldn't be so different. Just you call hanging out with him dates, him your boyfriend, and friends don't usually suck face."

"You think Berwald is into that?"

"Probably."

"I guess you're right. But, do you think Berwald would even like me back?"

Lukas felt the need to laugh, knowing that Berwald did like him, but he couldn't just tell Tino. That was something Tino needed to experience realizing himself, probably when he admits his own to Berwald.

"I don't know, you're the one that can usually tell what he's thinking." Lukas replied.

"I don't know either."

"I think you should find out."

"But I'm scared." Lukas frowned, oh this guy! All he could do at this point is continue to encourage him.

"I really think you should go for it. Tell him exactly how you feel, don't even filter yourself. Maybe grab his shirt and pull him down to your level when you do." Tino laughed at this.

"I'll think about it."

"Good." Lukas took a deep breath, expecting the conversation to be ending at that point.

"And another thing."

"Hm?"

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable by asking this but…" Lukas felt his heart start to pound, expecting Tino to continue but he paused.

"No, it's okay." He knew what was going to come next. Tino was going to ask about Mathias. Lukas took a deep breath, telling himself that he wasn't going to lie to Tino, and that he will finally mention that elephant in the room.

"Do you know how to clean up blood from carpets? I didn't murder someone but Hanatamago kinda went in heat and I didn't find out until I saw blood on the carpet. I put a diaper on her so…" Tino went on his ramble while Lukas sighed silently in relief. He proceeded to explain the process of how to clean up the stain.

"Thanks Lukas!" Tino said, happily. "I probably should let you get back to what you were doing, sorry I took so long…"

"No it's okay."

"Well I shouldn't have…" Tino began his apology speech. Lukas listened in and continued to tell him that it was alright. He continued to think about what he was meaning to say much earlier, if the question wasn't about blood stains.

"Alright, I'll hang up now." Tino laughed.

"Wait."

Tino went silent on the other line. "Hm?"

"I probably should… Say something."

"What's wrong?"

_No going back now_. "It's about…" Lukas put the phone down, listening carefully. He heard the sound of dishes being stacked and Mathias' humming in the kitchen. He put the phone back to his ear. "It's about Mathias."

"Oh, uh, what?" _Tino didn't suspect a thing._

"I kinda…" Out with it. "I like him."

Tino laughed. "I knew it."

"What?"

"I'm really kinda surprised you two aren't already together. Like, come on Lukas. But anyway, sorry, go on."

"I shouldn't."

"Don't say that Lukas." Lukas didn't respond. "You're in the exact same situation only with a different person and you told me to pursue it."

"That's because it's you and Berwald, not me and Mathias." Lukas sighed. "I live with Mathias, and he's my boss."

"That's crazy already, but everything is fine like that. Just like you said earlier." Lukas went quiet again. "How long have you been thinking over this?"

"I don't know, maybe when the dreams started."

"Hm, dreams?"

"Yeah, weird, vivid dreams. I have them more often than not, but sometimes I forget them. The ones I do remember are weird because I'm with people I know or feel like I know, but in places I've never been but I feel like I've been to. Does that make sense?"

"Kinda, like you're a different person in their universe, and you recognize that universe as your own?"

"Yes, though that different person…"

"… Is still you?"

"Precisely." Lukas ran his fingers through his bangs. "It's usually just Mathias with me in them, too. Other people show up sometimes, mainly you, Berwald, and Emil. The first one I had was one where I was still going to school as a teen and Mathias talked me into sneaking out of class. It wasn't like our high school, it was a different one, but it was like I had attended that one instead. And we ended up kissing in an empty locker room."

"And most of these are like that?"

"Some, the others can get pretty interesting. I was a punk high schooler in one, and Mathias was a nerd." Tino laughed. "Don't laugh, you were a punk, too."

"Did I wear eyeliner?"

"Yes."

"That's _amazing._" They laughed together.

"Another one was that I was a prince and Mathias was a pirate. He would sneak into my room or we would sneak out of the castle and sail across the sea or something."

"And you say these are vivid?"

"Yes, they feel real. Sometimes when I have similar, reoccurring dreams, they end up becoming lucid dreams. This is not the case."

"And these have made you realize your feelings for Mathias?"

"No, they made me think about them more often. I've been kinda…"

"Pushing them off to the side?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you shouldn't do that, Lukas."

"Then what else should I do?"

"Do what you told me to do." Before Lukas could object, he continued. "If I can admit my feelings to my best friend, then you can, too."

"I don't know, Tino. I've been neglecting to touch this subject with myself for months."

"Will you at least think about it now? Consider your options?"

"And my options are?"

"Tell him or continue to suppress your feelings."

"Sounds like a lose-lose situation."

"Sounds like a win-lose because come on now, Lukas. Do you really think someone like Mathias would pass up someone like you?"

"Tino, are you calling me hot?"

"Maybe."

"What if he finds it inappropriate?"

"Then he'll try making you guys have a secret relationship going on. Just think about it! Kissing while nobody is looking, sex in the back room where he doesn't let the rest of us go…"

"I'm sorry I asked."

"Don't be, and I'm picking. Mathias wouldn't want to keep you secret, and he might have a hard time shutting up about you, just like he already is. The only thing he talks about other than work or his hobbies is you. Lukas this, Lukas that. But it lets me know he takes care of you as much as you take care of him. And he worries for you, every time you're in a less than happy mood it's always so much anxiety with him. Are you sure it's not only you thinking you're not together? Boss or not, you guys are and will be really good for each other. If you're going to like anyone, I have peace in mind that it's him." Tino stopped talking, Lukas had gone silent again. He stayed quiet, assuming Lukas was processing everything he had said.

Lukas was, as he guessed, thinking. He began to realize how much he really did hope Mathias' feelings were mutual, and how there was a chance that they were. He wanted to prepare himself for rejection; but at the same time, he needed to not be pessimistic. The reason why he was encouraging Tino to tell Berwald about his feelings was because he knew they were mutual. What if Tino knew Mathias' was mutual? He couldn't just ask, he had to find out himself. He needed to do more than talking to Tino about it, but he needs to tell Mathias. It concerns him, after all.

"I'm going to tell him."

"What?"

"I'm going to tell him."

"If you're not ready, don't!"

"I'm not going to do it soon but I'm going to tell him."

Tino and Lukas spoke for a few minutes more, giving each other some words of encouragement before saying goodbye. Lukas rested for a minute more before there was a knock on his door.

"Hey, Lukas! We should decorate the Christmas tree after dinner!"

Lukas sat up and looked towards the door. "Uh, sure. I'll help you set it up."

"But I already have it set up."

"Already?" Lukas got off the bed and ran for his door, opening it and looking past Mathias to see an empty tree in the living room corner. "That was quick."

"I've been working for over an hour now, you know. You just like to blab on the phone and lose track of time." Lukas gasped.

"You didn't listen in, did you?" He asked.

"No? I mean I used to try paying attention when you and Tino are speaking together but I get lost in translation. It's like you guys ramble and it starts to sound like-"

"So you didn't hear the conversation."

"No." Lukas sighed in relief. "You weren't talking trash… Were you?"

"Not at all."

"You sure? And what was up with Tino anyway?"

Lukas stepped out of the door, smoothing his bed head down. "It's a little personal."

Mathias looked at him expressionless before smiling. "Does our Tino have a crush on who I think he does?"

"Have you finished all the chores?" The smile on his face faded.

"Not yet."

"I'll help." The smile had come back.

* * *

By the time Emil had come home, the chores were finally finished up. Mathias retired to his room while Lukas and his brother settled down on the couch and turned on Netflix.

"How was your day?" Lukas asked, his usual question to spark a conversation.

"Good, I guess. Leon's grounded because his dad realized he snuck out the other night."

"Does his dad just never give him permission to go anywhere?"

"His dad thinks he'll do something stupid, so he prefers to try keeping him locked up."

"Sounds like Tino's parents, it's so much better to allow your kids to experience life and the dangers while giving them precautions rather than to let them get curious, escape your hold, and get even more hurt."

"That was deep." Emil laughed some. "But now he's applying screens onto the windows."

"Tell him to sneak out the front or back door."

"Hm. Are you encouraging this behavior?"

"I would be a liar if I said I never encouraged it before. I had lied so many times to Tino's parents saying I didn't know where he was when I was the one that had helped him sneak out."

"Well, at least you trust Leon."

"I do." He looked over at his brother. "And I also trust that you don't sneak out. I prefer to know where you are just in case I need to come find you."

"Understood."

"And I trust the kid knows his boundaries and his no-go zones, right?"

"I never had to remind him. He asks for permission to hug me sometimes even though I've told him he doesn't have to."

"Leon is a good kid." Lukas never wanted to think about someone who Emil liked stepping over a line and not acknowledging Emil's sexuality, or rather lack of. At least Leon wasn't an issue when it came to that.

"Yeah, I kinda like him."

"You think his dad would be okay with me inviting him over myself?"

"He doesn't like that you're my adult supervision instead of mom and dad."

"Sucks, he should meet Mathias then."

"No, no thanks."

* * *

After Mathias had woken up from his nap, he started on dinner. Lukas and Emil continued to watch TV until he had finished.

Mathias had prepared a simple meal; baked chicken, microwavable green beans, and some rice. At the table, they made small talk and ate.

"Do you know where the box of ornaments is?" Lukas asked, taking a bite of the chicken.

"Yeah, it's still in the living room closet. I'll take it out after I do the dishes."

"We're doing the tree tonight?" Emil asked.

"Mhm, Mathias has the tree up and everything."

"Good, because I hate setting up the tree." Emil glared at Lukas. "You always made me do it when we were younger every year and hogged decorating it to yourself."

"That's because you suck at decorating." Lukas commented. "But I trust you to be better at it now."

"Yeah, yeah. You have no room to talk, you always put too much reds in one spot."

"Listen you…"

"I should find some Christmas playlists for us to listen to while we decorate!" Mathias interrupted.

"Yeah." Lukas and Emil agreed, ditching their argument.

After cleaning up from dinner, the three moved to the living room. Emil helped Lukas take the box of ornaments from the closet as Mathias set up the music on his laptop. Together, the three decorating the tree, talking and laughing, but every-once-in-a-while, Emil or Lukas would call each other out for 'bad color arrangement' on their section of the tree.

Finally, the tree was finished. Mathias plugged in the lights, and the three stepped back to look at the completed product.

"I like it." Lukas spoke.

"Me too." Mathias granted.

"This custom is so weird, you know." Emil pointed out. "We have a tree in our room."

Mathias shrugged and laughed. "It's not a real tree."

"Some people have real ones." Lukas retorted.

"True, but it's kinda fun to decorate them." He put an arm around Lukas. "It's like we're all family."

"Yeah," Emil spoke up. "A really weird one. I think I'll call it a night." The two watched as Emil left the room, Mathias' arm still resting on Lukas' shoulders.

"Emil put these right next to each other." Lukas whispered to him, moving to the tree and removing one of the holly leaf decorations from the bottom portion of the tree.

"I think we can move it here." Mathias walked up to his side, took it from him, and put it towards the top. "There."

The two examined the tree closely, turning to each other.

"I think everything's good now." Lukas relaxed his elbow onto Mathias' shoulder and rested his head onto his now elevated arm, still looking at the tree. He felt Mathias' head rest on his own, vibrant spikes of blond hair touching his forehead.

"It's perfect, Lukas." Mathias' voice was hushed. "You did a good job on it."

"You too." Lukas stated. Mathias' bare hand moved up and touched his arm. Lukas glanced down at it as it tenderly rubbed against his arm before Mathias put it down by his side again. He took a quick look at Mathias, noticing he was looking directly at him back.

Lukas withdrew his arm, separating from Mathias. He tried to think of something else to say, to avoid the awkward silence between them. He looked at Mathias again, who was still looking at him back. He wasn't smiling, but he didn't look sad or serious. He looked like he wanted to say something.

Facing him, Mathias took a step towards him, putting his hands onto Lukas' upper arms. "Lukas…" He trailed off.

"Mathias…" He spoke back. Everything seemed to be going so fast for Lukas, though nothing much was even happening. For Mathias, he felt like time was standing still.

"I…" Mathias seemed to be choking on his own words, making them barely audible. Lukas moved closer, trying to listen to him.

Mathias felt all the emotions he wanted to express to Lukas, who was right there in front of him and getting even closer, about to burst from him. _It's time to tell him_, he repeated to himself over and over again. _How do I tell him?_ He felt Lukas start to withdraw from his hold, and without thinking, he leaned down and kissed him.

Their noses had gotten in the way, and if anything, he hoped he didn't hurt Lukas'. He felt the other jolt up in surprise while his eyes were closed. He quickly pulled away, letting go of Lukas.

Lukas, instead of sharing Mathias' anxiety, felt relieved. Relieved that, despite his heart pounding harshly in his chest, that he wasn't the only one going through what he had been going through for the past several months. Mathias looked like an emotional wreck, and realization had hit him that he wasn't the only one scared of his own feelings.

He wanted to hug Mathias, maybe kiss him again. Assure him it was okay, that they can relax now. But he couldn't relax until he spoke to Mathias about what he had talked to Tino about.

Mathias forced a laugh, almost sounding pathetic. "That mistletoe." He pointed to the tree.

Lukas looked at him for a second, and before long he was laughing. Mathias relaxed the tension in his body some.

"Was it that funny?"

"That's holly leaf, Mathias."

"Holly… Leaf?" Lukas nodded, his laughter getting softer. _At least he's smiling_. "That's my bad, I should be getting to bed soon…"

"No." Lukas told him. "We need to talk about this."

"I don't know, Lukas."

"Mathias, how long?"

"Almost two years." Mathias looked away from him. Lukas shook his head, grabbing his arm and pulling him into his room. Lukas shut the door and crossed his arms.

"Two years?"

"Yeah," Mathias wouldn't look at him. Lukas took his chin and made him look at him.

"… A good few months."

"What?"

"I said… A few months…"

"You…" Mathias spoke, Lukas removed his hand from his chin.

"Yeah… So." Lukas lost his words. Mathias looked like he was about to cry, taking Lukas' hands in his. Now Lukas had a hard time looking at him.

"I didn't think it would go like this. I kinda just wanted to tell you at a good time so either way it would…"

"Mathias, this is so…"

"Wonderful." Lukas looked back at him, tears were dripping off of Mathias cheeks.

"Mathias don't…"

"But I love you, Lukas." Mathias voice was louder as he cried more. He let go of Lukas' hands and hugged him. Lukas was pushed back against the door as Mathias clung to him, sobbing into his shoulder. He slowly slid down until he was sitting, holding Mathias as he cried while he stared at the opposite wall.

"I'm so happy." Mathias babbled, muffled in Lukas' shirt.

"I happy, too." Lukas responded, his own eyes filling with tears. Mathias got up and rubbed his eyes, a smile spread across his face.

"What was that?"

"I love you, Mathias."

"I love you, Lukas."

"It's 'I love you, too'."

"I love you, too, Lukas." Mathias laughed as he cried more. Lukas joined in.

After they had calmed down, and the room was silent again, Lukas wiped the last of his tears from his eyes.

"Now what?"

"Whatever happens," Mathias smiled. Lukas nodded, standing up and helping Mathias up. Once Mathias was on his feet, Lukas pulled him into a tight hug.

"I'm going to go to bed." He whispered.

"Okay." Mathias left a brief kiss onto his cheek. "Good night."

"Good night." Lukas let go of him and headed to the door. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

* * *

After brushing his hair, feeding Mr. Puffin, and changing clothes, Emil relaxed onto his bed and pulled up his covers. He checked his phone, wishing he could tell Leon good night.

He began to doze off when someone knocked on his bedroom door. Assuming it was Lukas, he called from the bed. "Come in."

The door slowly creaked open, Emil squinted to try making out his brother's face.

"Were you sleeping?" Leon's voice surprised him.

"Sorta… How did you get in here?"

"I knocked on the front door?" The light was suddenly switched on, Emil flinched.

"Sorry," Lukas stepped in after Leon. "Leon can stay for a while, but remember you have work in the morning and he needs to get home before his dad realizes he's gone."

"Okay." After Lukas left the room, Leon sat down next to Emil. "You know you should be more careful, Leon."

"What would my dad do? Ground me harder?"

"Yeah, probably." Emil sat up and hugged Leon. "But I'm glad I get to see you."

"Me too." Leon left a few kisses on Emil's lips, sighing in between them. Emil suddenly felt worried.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know." Leon answered back.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't like lying to my dad." Emil touched his face with his hands, listening. "I don't like having to sneak out and see you. I don't like lying about our relationship. You're so honest with your brother and I wish I could do the same with my dad."

"I understand,"

"I want to come out to him." Emil, thought surprised, nodded and kissed his cheek.

"Want me to be there when you do?"

"Maybe, if you want to."

"Alright, we can practice, too."

"Yeah." Leon slowly moved to in front of Emil. "But later. Kiss me?"

"Yes!" Emil leaned over and kissed Leon. While Leon kissed him back, he noticed he was responding better than the last kiss they had. He hugged the other around his waist, pulling him closer. "You make me so happy, Leon."

"You make me happy, too."

* * *

** Notes: Happy Valentine's Day. I worked hard this week to bring you guys this chapter, just in case your V-Day isn't going so well, you know? But I hope it is, single, taken, married, engaged, or just not interested.**

** And I do believe this is the longest chapter in this work of mine, and in all of my works. 7k words? Wow! It's longer than the full length of some of my others.**

** How do you guys feel about the next chapter being the Berwald/Tino backstory chapter? Hehe**

** In case some of you don't know, a peplum is a blouse that has the bottom portion sewn to look like an attached skirt. They're like a mini dress that you would wear as a shirt.**

** And as most of you would know, the Fifty Shades of Grey movie is premiering sometime today. As a fanfiction writer that makes it a priority to show healthy, queer relationships in my works, that I know a lot of people around me would disagree with the types of relationships, though healthy, that I write, and if they were published, they would end up on the banned book list, this **_**insults me.**_

**Fifty Shades of Grey being published as a book and being made into a movie should **_**irk every last one of us fanfiction writers, **_**no matter the content we write, BDSM or not.**

** This movie portrays heavy abuse and a bad representation of BDSM and is being treated better than even a hint of a queer relationship in media.**

** This is not okay.**

** And we need to also learn from this.**

**Works that sexualize non-con and rape flood our fanfiction sites****. This needs to stop.**

** Call out writers that do this.**

** Ask them to edit their works or take them down.**

** Don't be afraid of reporting them.**

** Stop telling them how good their smut is when it's obviously rape. Who likes to read a fic where one character is yelling "please stop" and crying during the who smut scene anyway? It's so bad and upsetting!**

** It may be fictional but that doesn't matter. Rape is real and should not be sexualized.**

** So please, help spread the word.**

** Thank you for supporting my work. I'll respond to any questions regarding it.**


	11. Berwald and Tino

**Chapter 11: Berwald and Tino**

* * *

...

* * *

The residents of Brookdon had sincere respect for Berwald Oxenstierna, though surprised the man ended up taking a cleaning position of Mathias Køhler's establishment. Even more so, some found it more of a reason to admire the man.

When Berwald was born, though, his parents were well-standing; living in Seattle where his father worked as a manager at a department store and his mother worked at a school's cafeteria as a cook. Berwald wasn't close to his dad as he were his mother, and if asked, the parents would blame it on his dad's work hours. That didn't stop Berwald from noticing his dad's habit of distancing himself; neither did the fact that was the way it had always been.

He wasn't very surprised when he came home to only his mom during his 2nd grade year. _He had left_, she had said, _only leaving a note_. Berwald comforted her as she cried, as he did months after that day, through not being able to afford living in their house, moving to Brookdon, the divorce going through, and on nights she felt her hope slip away.

After they settled into Brookdon the summer after the divorce went through, Ms. Oxenstierna was doing better. She was more worried about how Berwald would get through it more than herself. Berwald was always bad at conveying his feelings, but seemed to be doing fine with adjusting to the new home and 3nd grade class.

Berwald always felt that schools were all the same, anyway. During class, all he thought about was how his mother was doing and what he would be doing when he got home. Much less, he really didn't care much about what he was doing in class nor did he care for the students there, especially the ones that tried talking to him.

Mathias Køhler was a prime example at the time, and when he came up to him in the hallway during a bathroom break, he assumed all he wanted was trouble.

"Hi." He simply said, smiling.

"Hi?" Berwald replied under his breath, questioning rather than just responding.

"I'm Mathias, I'm Lukas and Tino's best friend." Berwald had heard the name Tino before, but couldn't quite remember his face. He knew he was in his class and he assumed it was one of the other blonds that he had seen being around Mathias. But he had only glanced before. "Didn't you come here from Seattle?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." There was silence as Mathias just stared at him with his wide, baby-blue eyes. Berwald avoided his eyes and glimpsed down at the floor. "You should sit with us at lunch. Tino, Lukas, and I really want you to."

"Hm?" _They wanted him to sit with him at lunch? _"But I have to sit with my…"

"That's just a suggestion, I think. Tino and Lukas have never gotten in trouble before. The lunch ladies have a soft spot for them or something. And technically, you will be sitting with someone from your class. Oh! We have to get back to class!" Mathias began to scamper off down the hallway. "See you later!"

Berwald decided to ignore Mathias' request. He wouldn't have been surprised if he was being led into a trap to be humiliated like he's seen happen to the shy kids in TV shows. He would probably tell Mathias that he forgot if he were to be confronted.

As the class got into a line to go to lunch, he felt someone grab the back of his shirt.

"Hey," the person who had grabbed his shirt greeted him, his voice cracking a bit. Berwald looked at him, recognizing that it was Tino. The boy was much smaller than him, as well as the rest of their class. He dressed very formally and his light blond hair was gelled. His smile and violet eyes were both shining with interest and shyness. Suddenly Mathias' request seemed like a great idea.

"Are you going to sit with us? Mathias said you were." He almost seemed like he was pleading, and Berwald found it hard to consider telling him no.

"Sure." Berwald answered.

Tino's smile grew larger. "You are? That's great!" As they walked to lunch, Tino stayed next to Berwald's side.

"Where did you move from?" Tino asked, tip-toeing over the edges of the floor tiles.

"Seattle."

"Why?"

"Couldn't afford staying."

"Why?"

"My dad left."

Tino looked up, surprised. "Wait, what?"

"Tino, get back in line." The teacher called, glancing back from the front of the line. "And stop talking."

"Sorry, Ms. Warner!" Tino got back behind Berwald. "What's your favorite color?" He whispered to Berwald.

"I like blue." He whispered back, looking over his shoulder.

"Me too." Tino smiled.

* * *

In the lunch room, Mathias was already there and sitting in front of Lukas as the other tossed mini pretzels at him.

"Trade with me." Lukas complained.

"No." Lukas threw another pretzel, hitting him on the cheek.

"Lukas, you're wasting them." Tino whined, sitting next to him and taking the bag out of his hands. Berwald settled next to Tino and took his lunch bag out.

"You decided to sit with us?" Mathias asked, turning to Berwald.

"Of course he did, didn't you tell us he said he was?" Lukas asked him.

"Well, I thought since…" Lukas picked up a stray pretzel and tossed it at him.

"At least he didn't force him to do it." Tino gripped at him, picking up the pretzels and putting them back in the bag. "Right Berwald?"

"Yeah."

"See?" Tino exclaimed, taking a pretzel from the bag and eating it. "You want one?"

* * *

Berwald began to regularly sit by the three others at lunch. During class, he and Tino became inseparable, always together in line, during breaks, and when they had to pair up for class. Lukas always included him when they were planning on having a sleepover or party. He became good friends with Mathias, though the two commonly fussed over trivial things.

They would usually hang out at Mathias' house. His parents always cooked snacks for them and offered to take them to the new park in Brookdon. Thankfully, the house was close by Berwald's street, so he was able to walk there. When they were at Lukas' home, his mother was always willing to drive Berwald home, understanding that his mother worked a lot.

When spring break came, Lukas and Mathias were going on a trip to a waterpark while Tino and Berwald stayed back in Brookdon with no plans. Before school ended, Berwald and Tino were sitting at their desks talking.

"Why don't we hang out at your house?" Tino asked. "I could sleep over tonight or something."

"I'll ask." Berwald told him. "You should give me your number so I can call you."

"I uh…" Tino avoided his eye contact. "I don't know it."

"I'll give you mine, then." Berwald tore the corner off of a paper and got a pen out to write his house number down.

"Okay!" Berwald knew something was up with him, but he didn't want to question it and make him uncomfortable. He wrote down his number and gave it to him. "I'll call you later." Tino told him, sticking the paper into his pocket.

* * *

That afternoon, the home phone rang. Berwald picked up the phone and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey! Did you ask?"

"I did, my mom said it's okay for you to come over."

"Alright, I'll be there later."

After he hung up, he decided to watch TV to pass the time. At around 7, his mother came into the room. "I made pizza for dinner, when is your friend coming over?"

"He never gave me a time." Berwald shrugged, looking up at the time. "He should be here soon."

"Alright, we'll have to save him a few pieces. I hope he likes peperoni."

"He does."

After dinner, Berwald cleaned up the kitchen and looked at the time again. It was now 6:30 and Tino still hadn't come.

"Maybe something came up." His mom suggested. "Are you able to call him?"

"He never gave me his number." Berwald picked up the phone and looked for the caller ID in the history. "His number isn't showing up on here."

"Then we'll just have to wait." Berwald nodded and sat down at the table again.

At 8:17, Tino had finally turned up carrying a small bag with him. After Ms. Oxenstierna opened the door to let him, he smiled and looked at both of them. "Sorry I'm late."

"It's okay, dear. Is everything alright?" She asked.

"Yes, it is." Tino was avoiding her eye contact now. "My dad was in the middle of something so he wasn't able to bring me."

"That's understandable."

"We saved you some pizza." Berwald chimed in.

"Really? Thanks."

Tino ate his piece of pizza in Berwald's room while they watched TV. He was being strangely quiet, which fed onto Berwald's suspicions. Being concerned, he waited until much later in the night when they were sitting on his bed to ask.

"Hey Tino."

"Hm?"

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh." Berwald paused. "That's okay."

After a long pause, Tino cleared his throat. "Really?"

"I can't force you to…" Berwald was interrupted by Tino sobbing. "Tino?"

"I just didn't want to ruin our sleepover, or our friendship. But I can't just keep lying to you or Mathias or Lukas." Tino was now crying, clinging to one of Berwald's pillows.

"Tino please calm down." Berwald grabbed his tissue box from his desk and set it down next to him. "There's a difference between lying and just not wanting to talk about things."

Tino grabbed a tissue and blew his nose. His face was so red; almost like he had been crying for much longer than he had. Tino didn't respond, and he eventually calmed down and stopped crying. He ran his fingers through his hair, upsetting the gelled style he always had.

"If your mom told you that you couldn't hang out with me, what would you do?" Tino asked.

"Hm?" Berwald was confused by the question. His mother loved Tino, why would she do something like that.

"In a pretend situation," Tino added. "If your mom didn't know me, what would you do if she told you that you couldn't be around me? For no reason?"

"I… I don't know." Berwald looked at him. "Did your parents tell you not to be around me?"

"They won't tell me why. They're perfectly okay with Lukas, and you guys aren't that much different, and they never even met either of you. It's so unfair, and at first I tried considering their point of view but I can't! I never disobeyed my parents but what can I do?" Tino ranted, more tears falling down his cheek. Instead of continuing, he pressed his face against Berwald's collar and grabbed onto his arms.

Berwald began crying with him, unable to comfort his friend. He questioned if he was a good friend in general and wondered what Tino's parents didn't like about him. Was he mean? He's never been mean to Tino. Ever. But parents only want what's best for their kids, right?

"How did you get over here if your parents didn't want you being around me?"

"I waited for them to leave the house and I left."

"You what?"

"Left the house."

"Oh." Tino sat back down in his spot and blew his nose into another tissue.

"Ms. Warner told us that nobody is perfect and even adults are wrong sometimes. What makes my parents right all the time?" He angrily pawed at his bangs again. "I'm so sick of this hair stuff."

"I uh…" Berwald stopped thinking about his relationship with his mom and began thinking about his dad. He wasn't in doubt that not only did his dad not care enough to continue supporting him and his mother, but that's how it could work for other families. But he couldn't quite judge Tino's family, he didn't know them. But they didn't know him either. "You can wash it out in the bathroom."

"Good idea."

* * *

There's no telling if Tino's rebellious stage began right after that, but he was very cautious at first. Tino had never disobeyed his parents before that. He began coming to school and washing the hair gel out into the sink in the bathroom in the morning. Tino was grounded a few days after starting it, but his parents gave in afterwards and let Tino do what he wanted with his hair.

The next year, Tino lost all guilt that he had when it came to being disobedient. He would show up to the Oxenstierna's front door, asking if Berwald could play. Ms. Oxenstierna didn't question it; Berwald had come to her after Tino told him about his parents' impression of him. She understood the situation much better than he had, and knew Tino wasn't trouble, so she didn't have an issue with him being around.

When middle school came, Tino's parents began to notice his disappearances. This didn't stop Tino at all, and so he continued. He never got into trouble, and usually had Berwald with him. As long as they played safe, Ms. Oxenstierna supported their outings and Tino's rebellion, even when they got in trouble with Tino's parents. She pretended to not know that they had gone out, and assured them that Berwald would be punished for his actions. Which, he never was. Ms. Oxenstierna didn't feel the need to take that sort of nonsense from people who didn't accept her son, after all.

Berwald was very aware as a child, but didn't quite understand the situation like his mother had for the early years of his life. He knew since the beginning that Tino's parents were very rich and had moved to Brookdon because they wanted Tino to grow up in a smaller town than Seattle. He noticed, when he became an early teen, that Tino also lived on high expectations and was expected to not only act, but look a certain way. Unfortunately, as Tino's parents would put it, Tino never reached his physical expectations while he struggled to be an all A student as well. He had lost a lot of his baby fat, but never lost his chubby cheeks or overall tubbiness. They didn't understand that Tino was just a big child, as he was all his life, and decided to try putting him on a diet. Berwald began to have to share his lunch with Tino so he wouldn't have to tolerate eating what his parents gave him.

It wasn't until their last year of middle school that something had triggered Berwald into thinking about why Tino's parents didn't want Tino around him. They knew Berwald was poor, and they didn't want Tino hanging around him as much as they wanted him eating junk food and getting bad grades. He didn't feel as angry as he felt he should have been, and he couldn't imagine how his mom felt about it. He continued to encourage Tino to rebel through high school, not for his own revenge but at this point, he just wanted Tino to be happy and free despite his parents' wants.

Their rules got stricter as Tino was getting older. They encouraged Tino to date, even at age 14, and he gladly went along with it. His parents were happy, but Tino had other plans along the subject of dating. He liked all the girls his parents wanted him to date, but he also thought the same for boys. That was a secret Berwald and the rest wanted to keep as far away from his parents as possible.

When Tino became a sophomore, he began dating a lot. He still made time for Berwald, and it wasn't like Berwald didn't mind the time apart from him. He got more time to hang around Lukas when Mathias was off doing the same as Tino elsewhere. Tino's experience helped him with his own dilemmas when it came to dating, and he would sometimes go on group dates with Tino. Life felt great for them, but Berwald knew that it was all bound to go wrong at some point.

During their Senior year, Tino was dating a guy that lived around the rich neighborhood he did. His name was Eduard and his parents were the same as Tino's, so they had a whole lot in common. His relationship with Eduard had been going on for a couple of months and was one of the few Tino would consider his more serious relationships. Posing as 'friends', Tino's parents were happy to let him come over and him go over to Eduard's.

Berwald was a little too confident that Tino wouldn't let his guard slip, even with that much advantage. Tino had visited and stayed over for the night, and at 1 in the morning, decided he wanted to get too comfortable with Eduard with the door unlocked. Eduard's father would have freaked out about kissing alone, but getting a full glimpse of Tino's boxer shorts and his son under him probably caused a much harsher reaction. Tino was sent out, leaving his things and pants behind, and to home to explain to his parents why he was kicked out. He lied, at first, but decided it was better to explain the truth before they heard it from Eduard's parents.

Tino was kicked out for three days and stayed with Berwald. He was crying hysterically, standing in front of Berwald on his door step as he explained, again, what had happened. Berwald's shirt and pillow were soaked with his tears within the early hours of the morning, and Tino had managed to go through two tissue boxes.

Tino felt a little better once he was able to talk to Eduard again, but sadly he was going to be pulled from school. He ended things with Tino over the phone, trying to not cry. Tino was heartbroken again, and Berwald needed to buy more tissues.

Tino got a call from his dad saying he was able to come back again. He claims that his parents only wanted him to come back because the neighbors would think lowly of them for kicking him out. He was only allowed to stay home until graduation, though. His parents had the decency to give him the money so he would be able to support himself.

Tino focused on getting scholarships, a job, and working for the rest of that year. Berwald began hoping that his friendship with Tino would make it through the rough time, and that Tino wouldn't have to move far off and away from Brookdon after being kicked out permanently.

But after graduation, he, Tino, Mathias, and Lukas partied at Lukas'. The party was partly for their graduation, but mostly for Tino's freedom. Lukas was only able to get a cheap birthday cake, and they watched probably the most badly made movie at the time, but Tino was forever grateful.

Berwald saw a lot of Tino after that; he had gotten a house nearby and they made time to see each other. Berwald continued to work hard to be able to move out himself, and ended up postponing going to college at the time. But he was happy, and that's all that mattered at the time.

One night, a couple months after he turned 21, he had gotten an email. Somehow, a woman named 'Lydia Foster' had gotten his contact information and wanted to speak to him. She had sent a picture of him when he was a child, and proclaimed it was a personal matter. Convinced it was important, Berwald replied to the email and confirmed his identity.

Turns out, Lydia was the sister of his father's new wife. He had moved to New York and married another woman a year after he had left his mother. Berwald learned that he had started a large business there, became wealthy, and even had 3 children there. Frustrated, Berwald wished that the woman hadn't contacted him, but continued to read the email.

Berwald's father was sick and on his death bed, refusing to tell his wife and sister who Berwald was. They had known he was married before, but they didn't know he had a son. Berwald explained that he had been lying, and told her the full story up to when he had left them. Four days after responding, he was notified that, since his stepmother didn't want to take over the business, he would be inheriting it as being the newly discovered oldest child of his father.

Berwald doubted everything at the beginning, but accepted it. Two weeks later, he packed his bags and flew to New York. He stayed with Lydia for a couple of months, arranging things and eventually selling the business. He visited his father twice, once to discuss everything he needed to take over the business, and the final time before he had left, to say goodbye.

In a weak voice, his father apologized for everything he had done. Berwald kept a straight face, listening to his every word before he accepted his apologies and told him goodbye. The word love was never spoken between the two, and when Berwald left the hospital, he finally broke down.

When he arrived home, he went home first, hugged and kissed his mother on the cheek. Berwald had ended up with about 100,000 dollars short of one million, more or less. He repaid his mother's debts, paid rent and the bills for that month, and took Tino out for a drink.

Lydia kept in contact with him for only a year before they eventually stopped emailing each other when Berwald had gotten his own house, but continuing to stay near his mother and Tino. He continued to work different jobs over the couple of years, before Mathias Køhler had come by after coming home from college, giving him the same stare as he did when they first talked.

"Hi! Guess who's going to start a coffee business out here?"

* * *

Opening day at Køhler's Koffee was one that Berwald would never forget. Mathias had never been so happy, swinging both Lukas and his brother around before they officially opened. Tino had pulled on Berwald's sleeve, giving his the smile of a free man. It wasn't much different from the one he had shown during their time at school, but it was much more sincere now.

"We did it." He said. He opened his mouth to ramble on about how he happy he was, Berwald assumed. The tears came, and he laughed.

Berwald laughed, too. "We did it." He repeated.

The years after that seemed longer when Berwald thought back at the many people he saw come to and from their still-developing town. He would over hear conversations and stories of the people who would come in that he would be able to remember presently. The people interested him, and he was always sad to see them go.

He remembered the first time Brooke came into the shop. She was a senior in high school looking for a place to relax and fill out papers for school or college, Berwald wasn't too sure. She became a regular, always ordering water to drink rather than the sometimes coffee. The more she showed up, the more stressed she seemed.

One day in particular, near closing time, she was looking really stressed and Berwald decided to sit down with her and talk to her. He kept small talk at first, and then asked her if she needed help with anything.

"No thanks." She told him, nicely. "This water is enough for me."

"Alright." Berwald told her. "If you're hungry, I'll be happy to buy you a snack."

"Really?" She questioned.

"Sure, just let me know." Berwald went back to work before she called him over and asked for a request. He bought her a muffin and sat back down next to her.

"Lukas and Tino make most of these, actually." He told her, pointing to the guys behind the counter that were giving them suspicious looks.

"They're wonderful, thank you."

"It's no problem," Berwald looked down at her paper. "What are you working on here?"

"Physics, actually." She scratched her head. "I'm having a tough time understanding it."

"Hm." Berwald looked at the problem she was currently working on. "I think you're supposed to be taking air resistance into consideration for that."

"Are you sure?" She asked. "Because I don't believe it matters."

"I can't be too sure." He looked up. "Hey Tino, can you come look at this?" Tino nodded and got up from his spot. He picked up her paper and took a look at it. "I think you do this." As he was explaining the problem to her, Lukas came over and looked over their shoulders.

"No Tino, you did the math wrong here."

"Oh, you're right." They helped her finish another problem and fix one she had already done.

"I don't remember how to do ones like these." Lukas groaned. "Hey Mathias!"

Mathias poked his head out of the back room's window. "What's up?"

"Physics." Mathias left the back room and made his was over.

"Okay, move over Tino."

"Letting the expert through," Tino moved to sit next to Berwald. Mathias sat with Brooke, giving her and in depth explanation on how to work out the problems.

The clock rung before she had finished the last question, Brooke began to put up her pencil. "It's okay, finish up on it and then you can go." Mathias told her. She finished up and set her pencil down.

"Thank you guys so much. I'm now sure I'll do well on the quiz tomorrow."

"No problem," Tino replied. "If you need more help, just ask us. I'm sure one of us has an answer."

"Thank you!"

* * *

They began greeting Brooke when she came in some afternoons. Mathias became very fond of her and always offered help on her physics assignments. She hung out a lot with Tino and Lukas and spoke to Berwald while he wasn't busy.

One day, she had stopped coming by. Mathias suggested that maybe she was busy with other things. To them, the afternoons became boring again without her. About month later, Brooke finally came by.

Berwald was worried throughout the month, and he knew something was wrong by the way she looked when she came in. She made small talk with them before around closing time. When the clock rang and the other customers left, she still sat in her usual spot. Berwald, Tino, Mathias, and Lukas made their way over and sat by her.

"Is everything okay, Brooke?" Mathias asked.

She shook her head. "I probably should have come to you guys sooner about this; I knew you were going to be worried."

"It's fine." Tino told her, giving her a comforting smile.

"Well, I…" She glanced around at all of them. "I'm pregnant."

"Oh, uh." Tino spoke, shocked.

"That's," Mathias started.

"I," Berwald began.

"It's fine," she laughed, weakly. "I just don't know what to do. I'm not finished with high school and my ex-boyfriend doesn't want anything to do with me now. I… I'm sure I can make it through, right?"

"I'm sure you will." Lukas assured her.

"You're a fast learner; this is nothing that you can't get through." Mathias told her.

"I know but," She sighed. "Raising a child will ruin all my future plans. I don't know how I'm going to afford it, either. And it's all my fault."

"Don't say that." Tino spoke up. "You could always find adoptive parents for the child."

"Would that make me a bad person?"

"Will you love your child?"

Brooke looked down. "Well, of course. I only want them to have a happy life."

"Then you're a good person." Berwald said. Brooke nodded in response.

* * *

"Have you found a couple yet?" Tino asked, months after Brooke told them the news. She was now 6 months into her pregnancy.

"Not yet, I'm sure I will soon." She responded. Berwald came into the room from the bathroom. "Hi, Berwald, how's it going?"

"Very good," He responded. "Any luck with the search?"

"Not yet, I can't expect many people to consider taking the offer without thinking it through first, you know?" Berwald nodded.

"I have been thinking a lot about it, though." Berwald said. "And I want to adopt the baby." Tino and Brooke gasped loudly.

"What?" Brooke asked. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I want you to know they're going to be in good hands. And I can assure you I will love them conditionally."

Brooke could only stare with her mouth wide open. "You are serious. But are you sure?"

"Of course I am." Berwald confirmed. "Do you have to think on this?"

"No, not at all." She nodded. "I just need help taking down all the posts."

* * *

Berwald arrived at the hospital when the time came for the baby to be born. Brooke went through a successful birth, having very few but small issues. On September 2nd, 11 p.m., Peter Oxenstierna was born. Berwald was only able to see him after he was born, and was soon able to finally hold him.

The boy was absolutely beautiful; and in his arms, Berwald cried more than he had when he left the hospital in New York, having to sit down to prevent falling over.

Berwald got time off of work to take care of Peter. Berwald adjusted well with having the baby to take care of, even with the many nights he had to stay up and feed him. Every day, Tino and/or Brooke would come by to visit and see how things were going. The couple next door to him was trusted to take care of him when Berwald returned to work.

* * *

As for the start of his feelings for Tino, he couldn't pinpoint exactly when they had started, if they were there since the beginning. At the time, Berwald didn't know if was how sentimental he was feeling at the time, or if he just got a good look at Tino one October evening. Tino had visited after they had come back from work, and had fallen asleep watching TV and holding Peter in his arms. He couldn't describe what he was thinking or feeling at the time, but he loved it. He excused any doubt in his mind that everything, good and bad, had led him up to that moment and he wanted Tino Väinämöinen in his life more than before.

That wasn't something he can force Tino into. As days went on, Berwald prided himself in his newly found love for his best friend. His dates and serious relationships were no threat to him, either. He would tell him someday, he told himself, but every time 'someday' seemed to come, he felt too weak to tell him.

He knew deep down that he was heartbroken at some degree about his situation. But like everything else that has happened in his life, he knew things will settle down somehow.

* * *

**Hey guys, I have a poll on my page about which one of my works should be updated more often and it doesn't help that only 2 options were voted on. Please do me a favor and vote. Thank you so much!**


	12. Whatever Happens

**Chapter 12: Whatever Happens**

* * *

December 3, 2014

_"Now what?"_

_ "Whatever happens,"_

Lukas woke up much earlier than usual. In fact, he woke up before Mathias usually did. He was fully awake, and as much as he wanted to go back to sleep, he decided it was time to get up. When he sat up, the events from the night before had come back to him.

Taking a deep breath, he lifted up a hand and set it on his chest. He felt so lightweight; he wouldn't have stopped and thought about how stressed he was about his feelings yesterday or the day before. He never seemed to learn; because every time he had opened up before and noticed how better he felt, he would continue to suppress emotions later on.

But a lot was at stake this time. He lay back down with his back on the pillow and his head inclined down.

_I haven't even considered where we go from here. _Mathias had told him "Whatever happens" when he had asked the night before. That didn't answer much, obviously.

_Go with the flow, _Lukas thought. _I should be more concerned with how Mathias and I are. What does Mathias even like his partners to do? He's a PDA kinda guy but he's too shy to ask to try doing it right off the bat. I wonder if he still makes that same face he always made when he wanted to kiss someone back in high school. He'll probably want to take things slow, even though we already kissed. At least we know each other so he won't act so scared and shy like I've seen him do before._

_ Shit, what if he still does? Chill out Lukas, just explain to him that everything is okay and he's probably no more nervous than I am…_

Clink, clink. Lukas sat up, barely catching sight of the light from the kitchen peering under from his door. _Is Mathias up already? _Lukas slipped his feet onto the floor and pulled himself out of bed. Peering out of the door, he saw Mathias at the counter. Still wearing pajamas and with his hair not fixed up, Mathias was distracted with moving things around.

"Why are you up so early?" Lukas spoke quietly, followed by Mathias losing control of his hands and dropping the pan he was holding. The pan fell to the floor, causing a racket equivalent to an alarm clock. After it had settled down, the anxious flapping of bird wings and groaning sounded from Emil's room.

"Uh, hi, Lukas." Mathias squeaked, getting quiet towards the end of Lukas' name. "Did I wake you up? I'm so sorry, it's just that I wanted to cook breakfast; I guess I should have prepared to do so last night but that probably wouldn't have made a difference."

"I can't hear you," Lukas looked at him confused. "Why are you talking so lowly? Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, sorry." Mathias spoke just a little louder. "Just trying to not make any more noise than I already have." He peered down and frowned. "Sorry."

"That's fine." Lukas picked the pan up and set it back onto the counter. "If you were planning on cooking eggs, I don't think we have any left." When he had looked up from the counter, Mathias had quickly moved to the refrigerator.

"Oh no…" He groaned in distress

"Are we out?"

"There's only one left."

"That's okay, we can buy more after work." Mathias stayed at the fridge holding the carton of eggs. _What's up with him? It's just eggs. We have plenty of muffins and cereal in the pantry. _A sudden thought struck him. _He was trying to surprise me with a nice breakfast and he's sad it didn't work out, huh?_

Lukas felt he should have noticed that Mathias was obviously starting his nervous tendencies, even though they were far too used to each other for that to even make sense. He couldn't complete what he brought himself to want to do for him, and now he's probably even more anxious.

"I'm not that hungry, I'm sure one egg would be perfect anyway." Lukas looked around, thinking. "Uhh, thank you Mathias. How about some caramel coffee, too? That sounds nice."

Mathias perked up some. "Okay!"

Lukas got dressed and brushed his hair in the meantime while Mathias prepared breakfast. Mathias was almost done once he had sat down at the table. The door to Emil's room had softly opened and Emil carefully walked out and took the spot next to Lukas.

"Why are you guys up so early?" Emil groaned, attempting to shield his eyes from the kitchen light.

"Don't worry about it." Lukas replied.

"What? Now I have to worry about it." Mathias came over and set a plate with an egg, buttered toast, and a few pieces of bacon on it. Emil looked even more confused. "Mathias cooked eggs and bacon?"

"Don't worry about it." Lukas told him, shoving a piece of bacon into his mouth. Mathias came back to the table again with a plate of bacon and some muffins, pushing them over to Emil and sitting down.

"So Lukas is the only one that gets an egg?" Emil groaned. "You guys wake up early in the morning just to cook Lukas one egg and have a bacon party?" Lukas looked up from his food and sighed.

"Emil."

"Don't worry about it." Mathias spoke, in a serious tone.

"What are you guys hiding from me?"

"Don't worry about it." Both Lukas and Mathias told him.

"You know what? I don't want your suspicious bacon anyway." Emil stood up, grabbing a muffin from the table.

"How about some of our distrustful coffee?" Mathias asked.

"You're certainly interested in that cynical muffin." Lukas added. As they both laughed, Emil sat back down.

"Fine," Emil grumbled. "What time is it, anyway?"

Lukas sneered. "Don't worry about it."

Leaving Emil behind to get ready for school, Lukas left with Mathias to head to work earlier. Only rarely did Lukas come to work with him, that day being the third time he had decided to get up early enough to do so. The last two times were because Mathias asked for extra help in the store those days. This time, Lukas simply wanted to have a talk before they had to work.

Once Lukas had stepped outside with him, he suddenly had no idea how he would bring it up.

"So…" He started out, only to nervously drift off into silence. He could only bring himself to look over at Mathias, hoping he would understand.

"Sometimes I forget how dark it is at this time during winter." Mathias noted, keeping his head turned upwards and his eyes to the sky. "It makes me miss summertime."

"I always thought you were more of a winter person." Lukas told him.

"I am. During the summer, I start to miss walking to work in the dark."

"I see. Just like how we miss warm weather during cold weather and during warm weather, we miss the cold."

"Exactly." Mathias finally looked back at Lukas, flashing a smile. "But I do love winter the most."

"Hm."

They continued to walk down the sidewalk in silence. The closer they got to work, the more Lukas wanted to scream. _How do bring it up? Why am I so scared to bring it up?_

"Hey is something wrong?" Mathias asked. His voice was down to a whisper and he was pressing a little closer to Lukas.

"No sorry."

"Sorry? Why are you apologizing?" Mathias laughed. "Seriously though, you're thinking about something."

"No I'm not." Lukas sternly looked away from Mathias, wishing he would drop the matter.

"Yes you are."

"Don't worry about it." Mathias was silent for a moment until he slowly broke into a laugh. As the laugh got stronger, Lukas finally looked over at him. Mathias eyes squinted as he threw his hand over his mouth, but his laughing continued. He squatted to the ground and covered his eyes with his hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Mathias struggled to speak as he tried keeping his outburst under control. "That will never not be funny to me."

"It wasn't funny to begin with." Lukas told him. Mathias picked himself up off the ground, laughing only softly.

"Sure it was. It made me think of your game with Emil this morning."

"What's so funny about–" Lukas stopped. "Yeah that was pretty funny."

"See?" Mathias elbowed Lukas some. They were now approaching the front door of their building. "Now are you going to help me make coffee or what?" Mathias asked, opening the door for him.

"Well, you're the boss here, so there's no question." Lukas walked in and stopped to wait for Mathias.

"Yeah, but you could always clean or whatever you want. I'm usually in here by myself. Just me and the beans." Mathias closed the door and flipped on the light switches to lighten up the store. "That's really up to you."

"Just whatever needs to be done." Lukas bent over and looked under a table. "I could probably take care of any gum that might be stuck under the table, though."

Mathias made a face. "If you insist. But first–" Lukas froze in place as Mathias quickly took hold of him around his hips, lifted him up, and spun him around. His first instinct was to grab onto his shoulders but once he realized what was going on, he slipped his arms around Mathias' neck.

The spinning only last for a second before Mathias awkwardly stopped and looked up at Lukas. "Sorry I just wanted to do that."

"No it's fine, I uh…" Lukas shyly loosened up his hold on him.

"Yeah, I um…" Mathias quietly muttered in response, making an embarrassed expression.

"That was kinda fun…" Lukas bit his lip some.

"It was…"

Lukas narrowed his eyes, relaxing in his position. "Enough of this and kiss me already."

Mathias' expression slowly faded a more confident one. He carefully set Lukas onto his feet. "Sorry."

"It's okay." As the last word left Lukas, Mathias was already leaning into him. He pressed a small kiss carefully to Lukas' lips. Lukas tightened his hold onto Mathias just as he pulled away. Lukas pulled him again and glided his lips onto the corner of his mouth.

"Lukas," Lukas responded with another kiss.

"I know, you have to work." Mathias pulled him closer, holding very gently onto his shirt.

"I hate to leave you hanging."

Laughing some, Lukas pressed a kiss to his forehead. "We'll talk later."

* * *

"Lukas," Tino called, watching his friend stare blankly at the empty table standing a few feet away from the counter. "Lukas~." Tino called after him just a little louder after not receiving a response from him.

Lukas flinched, very subtly but enough for Tino to notice. "Sorry, yeah?" Lukas pinned his attention quickly from the table to Tino. "What is it?"

"Is there something special about that table?" Tino asks, covering his mouth to prevent a short laugh from coming out.

"What table?"

"The one you've been staring at for the past 10 minutes."

"Yeah right, I sold that girl two donuts just a couple of minutes ago."

"Okay but you've still been zoning out for a while now. What's been up?"

"Is that what you were really trying to get to? Why didn't you just –"

"Look Lukas, I was trying to be funny and you sunk my boat."

Lukas sighed. "Sorry Tino."

"I accept your apology." Tino stood up, picking up his stool with him and moving closer to Lukas. He glanced to Nathan, who sat nearby at the cash register. He was distracted with trying to wipe the dust from the hard to reach spaces around the keys. Even so, Tino knew he had to keep his voice down or else Nathan might catch part of their conversation. "Seriously, what's up?"

Lukas looked nervously around towards the customers, to Nathan, and scanned around for Berwald. "Where do I begin?" He whispered.

"Oh no, does this have to do with Mathias?"

"Yes."

"Just give me the main plot point here, Lukas."

"I…"

"You what?"

"Fuck, Tino. You didn't give me a second to continue chill." Lukas' cringed, looking away. "Mathias confessed."

"Ho shit." Tino covered his mouth, looking back at the customers who had heard him and looked up. "Now start from the beginning." He whispered.

"Okay, we had eaten dinner sometime after you and I got off the phone, then we all had decorated the Christmas tree. Emil had gone to sleep and I moved a few ornaments around. And I guess it just kinda happened."

"He just decided to confess to you? Just like that?"

"No actually he kissed me."

Tino leaned forward, shutting his mouth with his hand again. "Hoooooo shit."

"Well, we perhaps kissed each other."

"Ho shit." Tino's words were muffled and indistinct through his hands

"But before that when we got a little too close to each other I was thinking and wanting to tell him what I was feeling but the kiss just happened there. So there's that. Oh and he tries blaming it on a holly leaf. He thought it was mistletoe."

"He what?"

"Then he panicked; told me sorry and tried running off to his room so I stopped him."

"Are you telling me he–"

"And then we finally talked about it. Kinda, he told me he loved me for two years. Two years, Tino!"

"I see that but you also told me Mathias thought holly leaf was–"

"He confessed, crying. And then we both cried–"

"Holly leaf has red berries, Lukas."

"I know but this morning I woke up and didn't know how to act around him."

"Mistletoe has white ones."

"But then we got to work together and got a little romantic."

"Hold up Lukas! I'm still on the mistletoe thing!" Tino yelled, not noticing the whole store went quiet. "Are you telling me Mathias thought holly leaf was mistletoe or perhaps he could have tried getting away with that kiss hoping you couldn't tell the difference?"

"Tino, keep your voice down!" Lukas shot his hand to cover up Tino's mouth. He looked around, noticing all eyes were on him, including the customers', Nathan's, and Berwald's.

"Well it's a common misconception." Someone from the other half of the restaurant called.

"I didn't know till I was 27!" Yelled another.

"Is it that important?" Said someone among the ton of chatter that was sparked by the outburst.

"Knowing Mathias, he both didn't know and was panicked." Nathan muttered, trying to use his pinky to scrap a bit of dust off the side of a row of keys.

Lukas quietly got up from chair and sat on the floor, glaring angrily at the wall. Tino moved his stool away and sat down next to him, patting him on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Lukas."

"It's okay Tino, I guess I went into a rant and ignored your input."

"You didn't ask for my input."

Berwald made his way around the counter, crouching in front of them. "If it makes you feel better, many of our regulars here have been thinking you guys were already together months ago."

"Thanks Berwald."

"You're welcome, I think." He peered over the counter. "So does this mean you and Mathias made things official?"

"Whatever had happened, I guess it's safe to say yes… Mathias and I are together."

"Well great," Berwald stood up, holding his hands out to the other two. "I'm happy for you guys. I've honestly thought you guys would finally fess up much sooner."

"That's to be expected." Lukas responded, taking Berwald's hand. He and Tino were pulled back onto their feet.

"Hey, I'm happy for you, too!" Tino spoke up, clinging onto Lukas.

Smiling, Lukas hugged him back. Tino swung him around in a circle before setting him down and letting go.

"You know what this means now, Tino?" Lukas asked, nudging his shoulder.

Tino's smile distressed. "Yeah…"

* * *

Right after the 6 o'clock hourly tune rang from the clock, marking closing time, Lukas headed to the door to change the sign from 'open' to 'closed'. It then occurred to him that the 'No Alfred Jones' sign was still up. _Might as well take this old thing down,_ Lukas thought, taking the sign in his hands and carefully removing it from the door. I do suppose we're over the whole issue. _But still, who builds a coffee shop in front of another coffee shop? That's rather rude and useless. There are no set of words to describe how I fully feel about that. _Lukas felt the need to put up the sign again, just for that thought.

As he turned around, the door to the backroom opened and Mathias stepped out, looking towards him. His tired eyes were suddenly more awake as he smiled over towards Lukas. Lukas walked to him as Mathias struggled to quickly take off his work apron.

"Need help?" He asked.

"No, no; I got it. But thanks." Mathias finally undid the knot he made, quickly taking off the apron and chunking it to the group. "You removed the Alfred Jones sign?"

"Yeah, I thought he would notice soon and break off those connections if we kept it up there." Lukas supposed, holding up the sign.

"I was thinking he had noticed and somehow it had twisted it in his head enough to think he was specifically wanted and welcomed in here. I don't know."

"You're probably right." Lukas laughed. "But just in case, it's got to go."

"You're right." Mathias took the sign from his hand. "I'll go do that." He picked up his apron and walked to the back room, closing the door behind him.

"Lukas." Emil whined from the supply closet as he shut off the light and walked towards him. "What are we going to eat? There's no food at the house. And don't give me that 'don't worry about it' shit because I'm not going to not worry about it."

"No, you really should worry about it." Lukas told him, grabbing his cheek softly. "Because we're stopping by the store tonight and grabbing tacos on the way home."

"Fair enough." Emil said, slapping his brother's hand away from his cheek. "But too bad I'm too tired to go. Can I wait home?"

"We need you there to get this done as soon as possible," Lukas grumbled. "It won't even take that long."

"But Luuukkkkaaassss…" Emil sobbed, tossing his head onto his shoulder and making loud grumbling noises. "I'm too tired!"

"Don't be a bike," Lukas snapped.

"Whadda 'bout a bike?" Mathias asked as soon as he opened the door.

"Don't worry about it," Emil mumbled, receiving a laugh from Mathias.

"Hey!" Tino spoke up, running to join the group. "I was just wondering when you guys will be able to come over Sunday also congrats."

"Congrats on what?" Mathias asked.

"On you and Lukas, of course! I was waiting for the day you two would finally confess to each other."

"Confess what?" Emil stood up, turning to Tino. "Wait, you mean–"

"Yeah," Lukas looked to the side, feeling his insides shake. "Mathias and I are kinda…"

"Me and your brother are together now." Mathias told him with a smile.

"You mean you two weren't a couple before?" Emil asked. "Want to know how many times I left the house assuming Lukas was in a pissed off mood because he wanted alone time with you?"

"That was probably him wanting alone time in general." Mathias shrugged.

"And all this time, I really thought you guys were modest."

"You better hope they actually are." Tino giggled.

"No worries, Emil. We won't be a problem." Mathias patted him on the shoulder, smiling largely.

"Great, great. Now can we get to the store so we can all go home and rest?" Lukas asked, reaching under the counter and grabbing his bag.

"Totally," Emil spoke up, throwing his hands up.

"Let me get my things," Mathias declared, entering the back room again.

"Alright," Lukas swung his back onto his shoulder, taking his brother's side again.

"Hey," Emil spoke, grabbing onto Lukas' arm.

"Hey," Lukas moved his eyes up to his brother's face. He was smiling at him. "What's up?"

"I'm really happy for you." Emil told him, his voice lowering. "Even though I had assumed you guys were together, it's great to hear confirm things."

"Oh, thanks." Lukas responded, moving his arm to his brother's back. "And I'm happy you're happy about it."

"I am. You also can throw me out anytime you want. Feliciano just got a ton of new PC games I've been dying to try out and he'll take pity on me when I tell him my brother wants alone time with his boyfriend."

Lukas sneered. "Is that the only reason why you're happy?"

"No, just don't worry about it."

* * *

Once the shopping and dinner was taken care of, Emil headed to his room to play video games, leaving Lukas and Mathias alone in the living room. Mathias had indulged himself into another series on Netflix while Lukas was mildly listening to it and staring up at the Christmas tree.

He couldn't place if the ornaments were making a symmetry effect or if maybe, just maybe, the Santa ornament on the right middle was off just a little bit. He kept telling himself not to be bothered by it, but it was bothering him.

"Lukas," Mathias called to him, his voice in a softer tone.

"Hm?" Lukas took his attention off the tree.

"I've been thinking." Mathias inched closely to him, turning off the TV. "We haven't talked much about all this, not as much as we kinda should be."

"I agree." Lukas replied, taking the couch pillow into his arms and hugging it. "Is there something you wanted to say now."

"Yeah, uh. I'm happy about this change. But I don't think I mentally prepared myself the indulge in this so suddenly."

"What are you saying?" Lukas asked, getting a little worried. Mathias' tone wasn't harsh or sounding like he was trying to say he didn't want to be Lukas. Nervousness had made its way into Lukas and still struck him with the idea.

"Let's take it in slowly. That's what I'm trying to say. Like, that whole kissing episode made me feel like everything is unreal." Mathias spoke, taking Lukas' hand. "I want to accept it and slowly build up this relationship with you… Lukas, I just…" Mathias looked up from their hands and to Lukas, the words nearly choked him. "I want to enjoy the slow build."

"I understand, Mathias." Lukas squeezed his hand. "I also feel like we hid part of each other from the other for a long time. I've known you forever and that's really never happened. I want to know that part of you that I was oblivious to."

Mathias lifted his hand up and moved Lukas' light blond hair aside to see both his eyes. "I want to share it all with you, Lukas. And I want to know what you have thought of me and kept secret, too."

"Then let's start there."

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope everyone had a nice summer! I sure did, sorry it didn't involve as much writing as it should have. My motivation seems to leave me during that time, but it always returns when the cooler weather returns and the bugs go back to hell in which they came. Anyway, Tino's birthday chapter is next and I should be on it soon hopefully.**


	13. Farewell

So here I am, writing that thing I swore I never wanted to write. But now I have to. I owe a huge apology to those who adored this story as I did. It breaks my heart having to end it like this.

I dragged this hope for well over a year that I will keep writing fanfictions and finish them all eventually. As I said in probably every farewell chapter I'm adding to my works, writing them helped me through an awful time where I couldn't enjoy doing my art like I used to. This story in particular helped me vent and express and just overall find myself. It helped me be creative again.

I'm sorry, but I just have to move onto this new era of my life though I hate leaving this unfinished. BUT I will be reviving it somewhat in the future, with my own original characters. It might be a good while. But we'll see.

I also owe you all a huge thank you for the love I've been shown. To all of you working on your own stories; keep doing it. I hope you find the joy I found as well.

I won't leave this off without a word of what I planned on taking this story. Here's an outline I had written for chapter 13:

13 – (December 6th) Opens to Lukas waking up from a nap he took after work closed early, and an hour before Tino's party. He's drowsy, trying to think of how the night will go since Tino let him know the night before that his parents are coming by. He's allowing them with an open heart in hopes to create a better relationship with them. Lukas is overly bitter about not only them calling the day before, but he's remembering the many subtle hints Tino has given him over the years concerning how he feels about his parents.

Mathias comes into his room minutes later, laughing that Lukas is still in bed and with messy hair. Lukas rolls over, laying face down and grumbles. Mathias lays on him and noses the back of his head, asking him if he needed time to get ready. Lukas says he would be only a minutes and Mathias leaves the room.

-page break-

Cut to Lukas knocking on Tino's door with Mathias, Emil, and Leon. Tino answers, wearing nice clothes and with his hair gelled. Inside, Lukas tells him he should dress how he usually does, and not to impress his parents, to let them know he's doing just fine without their lifestyle choices. Mathias stops Lukas and tells him that Tino should dress like that if he feels the need to. Tino changes the subject quickly, hinting at his nervousness by his body language. After Berwald arrives and shows Tino the shot glasses and drinks he brought. Afterwards, Tino leaves the room to go to the bathroom. Lukas and Berwald start discussing what drinks or mixers they need when they doorbell rings.

Tino's parents arrive; Lukas has to keep from being salty towards them. Mathias spends the whole night keeping Lukas away from them. Things are awkward with many silences between Tino and his parents, but Berwald tries helping with sparking conversation. The attempts only help a little, and his parents excuse themselves and leave. Tino is completely broken, and everyone cheers him up.

As for the next several chapters, I planned on more humor between Lukas, Mathias, and Emil. There was also going to be Leon's coming out chapter where he actually starts a better relationship with his dad, a chapter explaining Nathan works at the coffee shop because some asshole caught the flower stand, that he spent his life savings on, on fire. And of course, the backstory on Francis and Arthur, and Ivan and Matthew.

Francis and Arthur's started out when Francis was visiting Seattle. On the second night he was staying there, he couldn't sleep and decided to take a walk. He passed a cafe, where he saw Arthur sitting alone, and decided to sit down and talk to him. At first Arthur is unresponsive but after Francis' innocent, joyful questions and rambles drive him nuts, he pours out all on how he left home and dropped collage, accusing his parents not caring about him, and how dreadful and unhappy he was. He burned all his bridges and he was all alone.

Francis takes pity on him, pays for his drinks he had gotten, and gave Arthur his number in case he needed someone to talk to. Just before Francis left Seattle, Arthur calls, crying for help. Francis decides to help him out with a job and a temporary place to live. Arthur had never admitted to attempting suicide before he called Francis, but Francis has the idea.

As for Matthew and Ivan, they met while in high school in rival teams. Ivan was quite arrogant, assuming his team was able to win because the other team was much smaller than they were. At first, Ivan doesn't give his all and then realizes they're actually really good, so he starts getting rough with the other players. That's quickly put to an end when multiple of them start defending themselves, particularly #10, who Ivan shoved to the ice. Not even 5 minutes later, #10 knees him in the back of his leg while he was distracted with another rival, causing him to fall. He continues playing with one of his legs hurting, which worsens by the time the game ends.

Ivan's teammates carry him to the locker room, joking with him about getting what he got coming to him for being a bully. A few others from the other team come by and asking him how he's doing. Ivan apologizes to them, but starts yelling as soon as they turn around, noticing one is #10. Ivan's teammates keep him from trying to follow them out the door.

Ivan goes to the doctor after a day of wondering why his leg kept hurting so badly. It turned out that he had a very small hairline break in his leg, but it was impressive injury for the situation. Ivan asks around and figures out #10's name is Matthew Williams, but he isn't able to figure out any contact information beyond that. He eventually gives up.

Three months later, Ivan's invited by a friend of a friend of the host to a party on a weekend. At the party, he plays foosball with several others. The 4th guy who comes up seems a little familiar but it suddenly clicks to Ivan that it's Matthew. Matthew realizes based on the aggressive when playing, and starts trying to light-heartedly make jokes about when they met. Ivan confesses that Matthew gave him a hairline fracture and Matthew immediately starts apologizing, but while Ivan's distracted, he scores a final goal in their game of foosball and wins. Ivan makes a scene and demands another round. Their friends find this absolutely hilarious and they start inviting them out to bowling and tennis and other parties that involved games. Over the course of several months, Ivan and Matthew gain a respect for each other and start hanging out outside of their crowds.

During all of this, Matthew had a girlfriend that wasn't too serious with him, and the night he broke it off, he went out with some friends, including Ivan, where he admitted his respect towards Ivan. Ivan brushed it off as him antagonizing him until he realized he was being serious, and admitted the same back.

A month later, during a smaller party, Matthew and Ivan get into a huge debate about characters from a movie. They migrate to the kitchen, where Matthew changes the subject and claims there's too many olives on the pizza. Ivan starts laughing some, and it turns into silence. As usual, Matthew tries breaking the awkward silence with something even more awkward. "Want to go make out in the bathroom?"

This turns into a mess when Matthew wasn't serious, but Ivan thinks he was and starts trying to confess his feelings. Matthew is caught off guard and ends up having to bring him outside so they have better privacy. There, Matthew confidently confesses he likes Ivan, Ivan's relieved and they agree to keep things slow.

The story ends with Mathias selling the shop to Berwald, so he can move to Seattle and experience another career and marry Lukas. It was going to be a huge emotional chapter of all of it. I wish I could go back and actually work on all of it sooner.

I'll have links to my active accounts (Tumblr, Deviantart) for those who wish to follow my current/new works.

See you then.


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